Falling in Love with a Friend
by Kiki Hikari
Summary: After returning to Japan after two years, Kashino still denies his love for our favourite brunette. When Ichigo loses her love for sweets, will he finally realise his true feelings for her? Set in Yumeiro Patissiere Professional. Kashigo.
1. Prologue

Chapter One: Prologue

Kashino ran like the wind through the train station, bumping countless people but he didn't care. He just had to see her before she left.

_How could she just leave like that? Ichigo… Don't you remember your love for sweets? How happy you made those people when they ate your sweets? How could you just forget all that? _

Finally the platform where she was supposed to board her train came into view. He ran towards there faster than he thought possible for him but at the same time, holding the box he was carrying carefully. He couldn't have what was inside break after all.

Finally, he saw the train. It had already started moving forward slowly, going faster as it went along.

_Shit! _thought Kashino, running to the edge, "AMANO!"

He saw her face through the glass, standing just inside one of the doors. Her expression wasn't cheerful, wasn't happy like he was so used to seeing. Instead it was cold and emotionless.

_It's not Ichigo, _thought Kashino, _how could she become like this? _

"BAKA!" shouted Kashino at the cold face of Ichigo, "What the hell are you doing? Have you forgotten how much you love sweets? It was your dream, Amano!"

"Sweets…" said Ichigo, her voice deeper than what it had been before, "I don't enjoy making them anymore." She turned and walked away.

"Wait!" yelled Kashino.

Then the train went faster and the whole thing disappeared completely as it went into a tunnel.

Kashino dropped to his knees, his eyes staring into nothing. Then he dropped the box and fell down to his hands and knees, his tears dropping. They were falling rapidly by the time a tall blonde ran onto the platform, "Kashino! Oi, what happened?" he knelt beside him, "Come on, man, pull yourself together!"

"We were too late, Johnny," said Kashino as tears fell, hitting the floor with his fist, "Damn it!"

"We'll chase her right now," said Johnny, "Come on. Do you want to see her smile again or not?"

"She's not the same anymore!" shouted Kashino, "She's forgotten her love for sweets! She's forgotten everything! We've…" his voice broke slightly on the words, "We've lost her."


	2. Home

**Falling in Love with a Friend**

Chapter Two: Home

"We're here, Vanilla!" said an excited sixteen year old teenager. She had long, brown hair and huge brown eyes. Amano Ichigo. She pressed her hands to the airplane window as the plane descended and her hometown of Japan became clear. Ichigo had finally come home from studying abroad in Paris for two years.

"Oui!" said a blonde, small spirit. Vanilla looked almost as excited as Ichigo and she flew about, pressing her whole face against the window.

"You know, if Chocolat were here, she'd probably say you look like a pig," giggled Ichigo, laughing at her Sweets Spirit's squashed face.

"If Kashino were here, he'd probably tell you not to get so excited," replied Vanilla, a small pout appearing on her squished face. Ichigo burst out laughing.

"Oi, Ichigo!" hissed Vanilla, gesturing crazily with her hands.

"Hm? Nani?" said Ichigo, looking around her at the startled looking passengers staring in surprise from her sudden laughing, "Ah," she blushed a light shade of pink, remembering those people couldn't see Vanilla, "Gomenasai!"

The passengers didn't seem to mind, turning back to their activities they were doing.

_Ah… _thought Ichigo, sighing, _to think I'd embarrass myself before I've even gotten off the plane…_

* * *

><p>"We're here," said a blonde chocolatier, looking at the familiar gates of St Marie Academy, "It's been pretty long." He gave a small smile, "It's nice to be back."<p>

"Yes, especially now that you've skipped a year!" said a dark-haired spirit cheerily, "That's amazing, Kashino! Now all that hard work has paid off over the two years."

"Don't remind me," grumbled Kashino, "Especially since now I'm in the same class as _her_."

"Oh yes, that," said Chocolat, "But that's just a minor setback. You're going to be fine, Kashino!"

"You know, I still haven't told Amano about Andoh and Hanabusa," said the chocolatier as he entered the school, "Or that I've skipped a year."

"It's probably better off, anyway," said Chocolat, "You know how emotional that girl gets. She'd probably worry on the whole flight home if you had told her anything."

Kashino shrugged as he walked towards the boys' dormitory block. He had already done everything for him to be able to skip a year so all he had to do now was unpack and perhaps relax for a while before class started. Just as he hung up a spare uniform, he sat down on the bed and looked around the room. Somehow, it seemed empty without all the vases of roses and the constant smell of roses in the air. Now that Hanabusa had left St Marie Academy to chase his dream, Kashino actually discovered he may have missed the guy.

As Kashino got up to walk to class, the issue was still in his mind. He sat down in his seat, thinking about the breaking up of the team he'd gotten so used to. With Andoh and Hanabusa busy pursuing their dreams and he had skipped a year, there was no chance Team Ichigo could be together again, especially as Hanabusa had definitely left for good and Andoh was only dropping in occasionally.

_But Amano's still here, _a small voice said in his head, _even if someone has left for good and one is only coming in sometimes, she's still here._

Of course, Amano couldn't replace Hanabusa or Andoh but her cheerful smile might help him bear the change for a while.

_After class…_

Kashino, back in his room, smiled as he thought back on the memories of the Cake Grand Prix. How many times had Amano's smile saved the team from breaking down? Or her imagination made their sweets taste even better and become more unique like no flavour out there?

Just as he was reminiscing about the past, a loud, all too familiar laugh sounded outside his door, "MAKATO-KUN!"

Kashino snapped out of his thoughts immediately, "!" He hesitantly got up and his legs shook as he walked to the door, "Impossible…"

"Kashino, don't open the door!" hissed Chocolat.

"Like I have a choice!" hissed Kashino back, "She'd probably smash down the door if I don't answer!" His hand was shaking violently to the point he could barely turn the doorknob. When he did though, the door swung open, "Makato-kun!"

"K-Koshiro-sempai…" said Kashino, scared out of his wits as he looked at the curly-red haired daughter of Chateau Seika.

"What are you doing here?" demanded Chocolat, "This is the boys' dormitory! You're not allowed here!"

"You should technically not be allowed here either and yet, here you are," said Miya, scowling for a moment before beaming at Kashino, "Anyway, Makato-kun; you should have told me when you were coming back, _darling~ _I would have given you a ride in my private helicopter instead of the normal airplane~ I was looking for you all day and I finally found you in class! But then I thought it'd be better to meet you in your room since we're alone, right?" She was way too close for Kashino's taste, her lips three centimetres away from his even though he was leaning back. It was like the devil himself had personally had her come here to unleash hell on him.

"Kashino doesn't need your fancy helicopters or your help!" said Chocolat fiercely, which was, since it was Chocolat, pretty damn fierce, squishing in the small space between the two's faces.

"I see the two years haven't changed you at all," observed Miya's Sweets Spirit, Marron, "You're still as grouchy and defensive as ever."

"What was that?" shouted Chocolat, her fork raised and her eyes blazing.

"Anyway!" Miya interrupted, turning around and barking at her two loyal servants, "Satou! Shiotani! Get that chocolate cake I made for Makato-kun to welcome him back!"

"Hai, mi 'lady!" said both servants in unison, running off.

"Now, _darling~_" said Miya, turning back around to air, "Huh? Where'd he go?" She asked nobody as she looked around the empty space.

"Hurry, Chocolat!" said Kashino, running for his life away from the dormitory block.

"I am!" said Chocolat, flying beside him.

"To think I couldn't even relax for five minutes without her appearing in my face," said Kashino, grumbling, "I knew I should have gone to the cooking room to practice!"

"Makato-kun!" called the demon's voice from above. Kashino looked up to see the Heiress leaning out of her helicopter, yelling to him through a bullhorn, "Found you!" She jumped out, a parachute letting out behind her.

Kashino swore under his breath and hissed to Chocolat, "Here, Chocolat!" He dived into the rose bushes along the side of the paths.

"Darling!" called Miya, running past, her hands cupped around her mouth, "Makato-kun!"

Kashino let out a sigh of relief and when he finally got over his relief to listen again, an angel's voice carried over through the air.

"Wait! So, you won't be attending St Marie Academy anymore?" the angel cried.

_A-Amano…? _Thought Kashino, listening closely. He could hear Andoh and Hanabusa finally telling the leader of their former team the news.

"… Because of my dream, I won't be able to come to school much," said Andoh.

"Andoh and I have started taking steps towards our dreams," explained Hanabusa,

"This is too sudden!" Amano cried, "Can't you wait until after graduation?"

Just then, the bell sounded for the class. Kashino decided to stay put for a while to see how the brunette would react.

"Thank you for everything, Ichigo-chan," said Hanabusa. Then he and Andoh turned and walked away.

"Be well…" Kashino heard Vanilla say sadly.

"Why…?" said Ichigo, sounding sadder than Kashino had anticipated. He stood up without thinking, hoping for a second that he could comfort her. Then Ichigo noticed him, "K-Kashino!"

Kashino looked at her properly and flinched. She was so beautiful! Her long, brown hair cascaded gently down her back to her waist and her large brown eyes had that same kindness and beautiful colour he remembered from two years ago. All those thoughts went through him in a second like an electric shock and he realised he still hadn't replied, "Yo."

* * *

><p>The very first thing that struck to Ichigo about Kashino was his still intact princely, angelic looks. He hadn't changed much over the couple of years but he was just as handsome as Ichigo remembered.<p>

_Like an angel… or a prince, _thought Ichigo. Then she snapped back to reality and saw Kashino looking at her curiously.

"W-What do you mean, 'yo'?" she cried, "And… why weren't you in class?"

"Kashino did really well in Paris in chocolate and other areas too," said Chocolat proudly, "He did so well, he was bumped up special and is now a second year! And he's actually able to handle it unlike someone…"

"Ichigo worked really hard!" protested Vanilla, "She studied abroad in Paris for two years and did well in the Cake Grand Prix if you remember correctly!"

While the Spirits argued, Ichigo walked over to Kashino. The Spirits didn't pay any attention to them, instead screaming at each other.

"So, now that you, Andoh-kun and Hanabusa-kun and I can no longer be part of the same team," Ichigo tried to keep the sadness she was feeling in her heart out of her voice, "I'm in Group A with Lemon-chan, Rumi-san and someone named Johnny McBeal."

"Johnny?" said Kashino as the uncommon name in Japan rolled off his tongue with an accent, "Is he foreign?"

"Maybe," said Ichigo, glad Kashino didn't seem to notice the sadness she felt, "I haven't met him yet. Anyway, congratulations on skipping a year," she smiled, "Do your best, okay?"

"Yeah," smiled Kashino, "Actually, since we've both learnt new skills in making sweets…" he hesitated for a minute, "Maybe we could make some sweets together sometime? Then we can see how we've improved."

"Sure," smiled Ichigo, "Then maybe after classes?"

"Okay," said Kashino, "You better show up on time, otherwise I'll know for sure nothing has changed."

"O-Oi!" said Ichigo but felt strangely happy inside. Kashino was still making fun of her and it seemed to make Ichigo less sad, knowing that maybe everything hadn't changed.

* * *

><p><em>She was upset, <em>thought Kashino. She may have thought he had missed that sad tone in her voice but Kashino was more observant than that.

_Amano misses having everyone together like I do, _he thought.

"Look. Who. I. Found!" shouted an unmistakable voice. Kashino stiffened and turned around slowly.

"Makato-kun!" screamed Miya as she barrelled her way towards him, wrapping her arms around him tight enough to the point of suffocation, "I've been looking everywhere for you, _darling~ _eh?" She looked at Amano standing there, confusion swept across her features, "Oh, Amano Ichigo is it? Now that Makato-kun's worked so hard so we can be in the same class—"

"AS IF!" shouted Kashino.

"—nothing will stand in the way of our love, hehehe…"

"Well, it's not like I l-loved Kashino or anything…" said Ichigo, a faint blush spreading across her cheeks.

"Well, Makato-kun," said Miya, ignoring Ichigo, "Let's go to our classroom of love!" She dragged him away.

"Kashino!" yelled Chocolat, flying after them.

"Oi, Ichigo, after classes, remember that!" called Kashino before Miya completely dragged him out of sight.

"Nani?" said Miya, stopping once they were out of sight, still hugging Kashino tightly, "What's happening between Makato-kun and Amano Ichigo after classes?"

"It's none of your business," replied Kashino coolly.

"Demo, Makato-kun and Miya are supposed to get married someday so you shouldn't spend the time with Amano Ichigo," her voice turned into more of a scowl at the mention of Ichigo's name as she pressed herself against him.

"Geez, we're just friends," said Kashino, yanking himself from her hold, "And who says we're getting married, huh?" He went off by himself, Chocolat following behind.

"Makato-kun, you're so cool!" called Miya, "Don't worry, _darling_, we'll be married soon!"

Once he was out of earshot, Miya turned to her two servants, "Okay, Satou, Shiotani, this is the most important thing you will ever do for me so you'd better not mess it up!"

"Hai, mi 'lady!" said the duo.

"What are we going to do, mi 'lady?" asked Shiotani.

"Find out what Makato-kun and Amano Ichigo are doing!" she said, "I'll definitely never let Amano Ichigo have Makato-kun!"

"Aren't you overreacting here?" asked Marron, "They are good friends."

"One can never be too careful!" said Miya, "I bet she's just scheming until the minute I let my guard down and then snap! Like a Venus Flytrap for my Makato-kun!"

"So you're comparing Amano Ichigo to a Venus Flytrap and Kashino to a fly?" asked Marron, "Hmm…"

"_Rawr!" shouted a Venus flytrap with Ichigo's face stuck over the top part, snapping at a fly._

"_Ahhh!" yelled a fly with Kashino's face stuck over the head flying away._

_No, I can't imagine it… _thought Marron, a sweat drop appearing.

* * *

><p><strong>And… there's the first chapter! I'm just trying to have Kashino and Ichigo do little activities together and insert some cute romance into what actually happened in the anime now. But things will get more serious and dramatic later on~ for now, I'm just having the two spend some time with each other as good friends.<strong>

**Note: I don't hate Miya; I actually think she creates some really interesting stuff that results in Kashigo moments~ Just to clear that up~**

**Anyways, please review and tell me what you think so far~**


	3. Johnny

Chapter Two: Johnny

_Geez, that Heiress… _thought Kashino as he sat down in his seat, _she overreacts too much. Like I would ever fall in love with Amano…_

Suddenly, images of her smiling and the beautiful sound of her laughter took over his mind. Kashino flinched for a moment. He did like her and valued her as friend. He cared for her a lot, admired her abilities and smiled because of her but all of those things also applied to Hanabusa and Andoh. What would be classified as love? Were his feelings toward Amano that of friends or something more? He had no idea; he didn't know anything about this stuff. The only one who would know everything about this topic had left the school and was probably halfway across the country already.

_Hanabusa… _thought Kashino, frowning, _why can't he be here when I need him most?_

"Kashino?" said Chocolat suddenly.

"Nani?"

"Are you okay?" she asked, "You look frustrated and you're not even doing anything. Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing," Kashino said. Really, it was nothing. He was just worrying unnecessarily over nothing. He promised Amano he'd do his best in the second year and he was going to. Pushing the thought out of his mind, he looked at the teacher only to see her looking expectantly at him.

"Well, Kashino?" she asked.

"Uh… Nani?" whispered Kashino to Chocolat.

"Introduce yourself!" hissed Chocolat, "You're a new second-year remember? Get up the front!"

Kashino stood up and walked to the front of the class. He didn't have a problem speaking in front of people. He'd just make this quick, "My name is Kashino Makato. I studied in Paris for two years. My specialty is chocolate. Nice to meet you all and I hope we'll work well together."

The teacher nodded approvingly, "Nice to see you were paying attention. Here, take this." She held out a white envelope with a red wax seal on the back, "It's from Henri-sensei. It requests for you to go to this location immediately."

"Henri-sensei?" said Kashino aloud, taking the envelope, "What's this for?"

"His new project," answered the teacher, "You have permission to be excused from classes. Please go to said location now."

* * *

><p>Ichigo sat in the Salon de Marie, finally letting her true emotions show on her face. She sighed unhappily as negative thoughts clouded her mind, <em>how could Team Ichigo break up so easily? Will this mean I won't get to see Hanabusa-kun or Andoh-kun anymore? Will I even see much of Kashino anymore?<em>

"Excuse me? Can I take your order?" asked a female voice. Ichigo looked up.

"Sayama-san!"

"Welcome, Ichigo," said Sayama kindly, smiling, "What would you like?"

"Well, in that case, I'll have one of everything!" said Ichigo excitedly.

"Eh…?" said Sayama.

"Geez, Ichigo!" said Vanilla scoldingly when all the sweets arrived, "You're allowance is going to be shot after this! I thought you were saving some money after buying everyone gifts!"

"Whatever; I'll save later!" said Ichigo, stuffing some cake into her mouth, "There's nothing like Salon de Marie's sweets! Urk!" she choked suddenly, thumping her chest.

"EH?" said Vanilla, flying about urgently, "Water, water…"

Suddenly, a hand hit the back of Ichigo's back, causing her to stop choking.

"Hey, are you okay, baby?" asked an accented English voice.

"B-Baby?" said Ichigo, turning around to look at the person. He was tall and had light, short blonde hair, blue eyes and simple clothing that reminded Ichigo strikingly of a cowboy. He looked nice though as he smiled.

_An American? _Thought Ichigo, "Arigato though."

The blonde grinned and looked at the many sweets on her table, "Hey, are you eating all of these?"

"Y-Yeah," nodded Ichigo. For an assumed foreigner, he spoke pretty good Japanese. She turned back to her sweets and noticed something, "Eh?"

"Wow!" said the blonde, still grinning widely and doing a funny pose.

"Donuts at Salon de Marie?" thought Ichigo aloud, "That's new."

"It's my number one recommendation," said the boy, "Try it."

"Okay," said Ichigo, not being one to refuse to try sweets. She bit off a piece and immediately, a flavour sensation erupted in her mouth.

"It's got a rough and hard outside but gentle and soft on the inside," said Ichigo as she savoured the flavour, "Like a cowboy."

"AMAZING!" cried the blonde, pulling another weird pose. He seemed to be incredibly excited, "To grasp the exact image in one bite! The name of that sweet is the 'Cowboy'. I made it. Your palate's amazing, baby!"

"You made it?" said Ichigo, smiling, "It's delicious."

"Thank you…?" he said.

"Amano Ichigo," said Ichigo.

"Ichigo," he said, "I'm Johnny!"

"Johnny…" said Ichigo, saying the familiar name when it hit her, "Johnny McBeal!"

Johnny just grinned, "Hey, you know my name!"

"You're part of my team, Group A."

"Really?" said Johnny, "Wow! If the other two on the team are as talented as you, we're going to have one strong team!"

"The other two are Lemon-chan and Rumi-san," said Ichigo, smiling, "They're really good and skilled as well. We'll have fun making sweets together."

"Yeah, baby!" shouted Johnny, pulling another pose.

"Ichigo," whispered Vanilla to her partner as she flew up discreetly while Johnny was busy holding his pose and hiding in her hair, "I think this American has a couple of screws loose."

"Vanilla!" said Ichigo, "Don't be so rude! Maybe this type of thing is common in America."

"Anyway," said Johnny getting back up, "There's a place I have to go so I'll be seeing you!" He ran off out of the salon.

"Ichigo, no matter how you look at it, it is STRANGE," said Vanilla.

"Maybe but you don't have to be so rude," said Ichigo, shoving the last sweet into her mouth, "Come on; let's go pay our respects to the Queen of the Sweets Spirits."

"Yeah," said Vanilla, flying out.

_Outside…_

"Queen of the Sweets Spirits," said Ichigo, placing down a sweet on the base of the statue, "I'll be working to the best of my ability this year. Please watch over me."

_And my friends, _she added in her head, _may they achieve their dreams and become wonderful patissiers. _

"Amano-san?" said a voice suddenly.

Ichigo opened her eyes, "Tennouji-san?" she said in shock as the Princess of St Marie Academy smiled at her. She had cut her hair so now it gently fell in soft waves to her shoulders. Her beauty had remained over the two years, only she somehow seemed more sophisticated and fashionable now.

"Honey-sama!" exclaimed Vanilla at the same time.

"How long have you been in Japan?" asked Ichigo.

"Since yesterday," said Tennouji, "I just came to send my regards to the chairman. I'm leaving right away though to participate in Henri-sensei's project. He may also want to involve you in the project as well, Amano-san."

"Project?" said Ichigo.

"You'll find out," said Tennouji, a gentle smile to rival an angel's, "In the meantime though, you'll keep on enjoying making sweets, right?"

"Yeah," smiled Ichigo.

"That's good," said the Princess, "You helped me open up and encouraged me, Amano-san even when Henri-sensei criticised me to make me stronger. For that, I could never thank you enough."

"Is that why you cut your hair…?" asked Ichigo.

"Now, you two, that's rude," said Honey, "Mari did not cut her hair because of some lost love. She's worked extremely hard over the two years and now lives in New York."

"Gomenasai, we didn't mean…" said Ichigo.

Tennouji laughed, a tinkling of bells ringing in harmony, "You never change, Amano-san. It was nice to see you but I have to be going."

"It was nice to see you too," said Ichigo, "Do your best in New York, Tennouji-san!"

"I will," she said, smiling before walking away.

"Goodbye," said Honey and flew after her partner.

"It looks like Tennouji-san is doing well," said Vanilla, smiling and looked over at Ichigo, "Ichigo?"

"Huh? Yeah," said Ichigo, a clear look of sadness on her face.

"Ichigo! Why are you being so depressed?" demanded Vanilla, "It's not like your team is never going to see each other again! And you like Lemon, Rumi and even Johnny, right?"

"I know," said Ichigo as she started walking towards the school building where her next class was, "It's just… I miss everything that happened with Team Ichigo. Not that I don't like our current team; I just miss my old team too."

"Well, I guess I can understand that…" said Vanilla, "Both Café and Caramel have left! Now I'm stuck with that Chocolat of all people! I guess you feel the same about Kashino, huh? Well, except there _was _that little promise you made with him back in Paris, hehehe…" Her look changed to one Ichigo might've laughed at if not for the current situation.

"Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-You saw that?" cried Ichigo, turning on her partner, stammering like crazy and blushing like a beetroot, "Wait… Did Chocolat see it too?"

"Yes, that's right," sniggered Vanilla, "We thought it was adorable, hehehe…"

"Forget it, Vanilla, forget it!" yelled Ichigo, grabbing her spirit and shaking her by the shoulders as if the memory could be tossed out of her mind if she shook the spirit hard enough.

"Never!" said Vanilla, laughing like a maniac before growing wide-eyed, "Ichigo, there's someone coming! Calm yourself!"

Ichigo immediately let go and looked over her shoulder at one of the teachers coming. He approached her and gave her an envelope, "Here, Amano. You must go to this location immediately. It's from Henri-sensei." With that, the teacher walked away.

"Henri-sensei?" said Ichigo, carefully ripping off the red wax seal and reading quickly what was inside, "What's Marie's Garden?"

* * *

><p>Kashino walked through the station, changed out of his uniform and Chocolat flying by his side. He held his envelope in his hand. He opened the message and read the short, brief message again.<p>

_Kashino Makato,_

_You've been chosen for a special project. Please come to Marie's Garden __**immediately**__. _

_Sincerely, Henri Lucas._

"Really, calling me out randomly for some project I know nothing about," muttered Kashino, folding the small slip of paper, putting it back in the envelope and shoving the whole thing into his pocket.

"The more the reason this whole thing is a scam!" said Chocolat, "Why would you accept a thing like this? Any dolt can do something like this!"

"It's legitimate," said Kashino, "It had signatures and the wax seal has the mark of Henri-sensei's sweets shops stamped into it. It looks pretty legitimate to me."

"Fine but only since you say so," said Chocolat. She stayed silent for a while and then, "Hey, there's Vanilla."

"Nani?" said Kashino, looking up. Sure enough, the Sweets Spirit was floating around a brunette dressed in pink. Their back was to them but it was obvious. Then the brunette suddenly tripped somehow.

"!" said Kashino, running forward and catching the strap of Ichigo's bag just before her face slammed into the ground. Sure, she fell all the time and remained all right but Kashino was still anxious ever since she fell down the stairs that time and was unconscious.

"Eh? Why am I floating?" said Ichigo.

Kashino's mouth twitched at the corners. She was so amusing and unpredictable. It was one of the things he liked best about her. Though he kept his serious face on, "Baka, what are you doing?"

She turned around, "K-Kashino!"

Ichigo got up so quickly, she was almost a blur, blushing red, turning away from him in embarrassment like a child. Kashino couldn't help it and let out a chuckle.

She noticed that, "N-Nani?"

"Nothing," he said, composing himself, "Anyway, I suppose you're heading to a place called Marie's Garden?"

Her blush disappeared and she turned around to face him, "How did you know?"

"I got the same…" he didn't know whether to call it an invitation or an order. _Order, _he decided, "…order from Henri-sensei."

"Oh," she said, "Well, then we can go together then!"

Soon, they were walking along together towards Marie's Garden. Ever since the mentioning of Henri-sensei, Ichigo appeared happier and on Cloud nine somewhere. Kashino didn't know why it bothered him so much as she blabbered on about Henri-sensei and blushed and giggled with Vanilla. Chocolat, like Kashino seemed to be fed up with their chatter about the French genius.

_Henri-sensei this, Henri-sensei that… _thought Kashino irritably. He tuned out the talking and focussed on his own thoughts instead about the project.

_Why would he suddenly call us out? _He wondered, _what's so important about this project that we can skip school right now for it?_

When he bothered to listen to Ichigo again, he discovered she'd finally stopped prattling on about Henri-sensei. She actually seemed serious and a bit sad, "Ne, Kashino?"

"Nani?" he asked, thanking the heavens that the subject of Henri-sensei had finally blown over.

"Did you know that we'd be separated once we returned to Japan?" her hand tentatively reached out and drifted between herself and him, unsure whether to make contact or not.

_Do friends hold hands? _Thought Kashino, _of course Hanabusa, Andoh and I never hold hands but do boy and girl friends hold hands? _

Kashino had never had any friends who were girls since all girls who he ever knew were always too busy doting on him. He wasn't sure if holding hands with Amano would mean something or if it would just be a casual thing that's meaningless.

"Yeah," he said, answering her question, "I knew."

"Why wasn't I told about it?" she asked. She wasn't asking aggressively in a demanding sort of way but instead in a shy way like she was genuinely hurt by not being told. It made Kashino feel quite guilty and want to try to make her feel better, "I know I'm not the most reliable person to confide in but…"

The guilt took over. He grabbed her hand which was still drifting, unsure, between them.

"!" said Ichigo.

"Oh?" said Chocolat and Vanilla in unison, obviously sounding interested. Kashino ignored them.

"What are you talking about?" asked Kashino, turning around to look at her, "We may be friends but we're rivals too. You came to St Marie a total airhead who knew nothing but you improved extremely quickly. We all think the reason we won the Cake Grand Prix was because of you. Hanabusa and Andoh were encouraged to follow their dreams because of you," he dropped her hand, "That's why they didn't wait until graduation."

"Because of me?" said Amano, like she really hadn't thought of this before. She was very modest. Another feature to like about her.

"Yeah," said Kashino, walking ahead, "Are you coming?"

* * *

><p>Ichigo gaped at the huge gates outside the Marie's Garden, "Sugoi! When did they build this?" she exclaimed.<p>

"A lot of things can happen over two years," said Chocolat, "But, it does look amazing."

"Like the Sweet's Kingdom!" said Vanilla.

Ichigo laughed excitedly and ran inside, looking at everything from the many sweets shops to the huge gold and red decorated screen in the town's square.

"Oi!" yelled Kashino running after her.

_Twenty minutes later…_

"This place is just too amazing!" said Ichigo, her eyes sparkling. Suddenly, she felt a dark energy behind her.

"A-MA-NO!" said a deadly deep voice. She turned around and saw Kashino, panting and glaring daggers at her.

"Gomen, gomen!" said Ichigo, laughing nervously, "Demo, don't you think this place is a bit strange?"

Kashino recovered from looking like a demon, "Yeah. It's a whole little town, practically and yet nothing is open even though it's the middle of the day." He took a slip of paper out of her pocket and looked at the building they were currently standing in front of, "I think this is the place."

They walked in.

"Please excuse us…" said Ichigo but she saw the place was plain and empty.

"Sorry, this place isn't open," said a familiar accented English. A tall blonde sat up from a couch in the centre of the room.

"Johnny!" cried Ichigo.

"Eh?" said Johnny, turning around and looking excited, "Whoa! Ichigo!" He leapt off the couch and swept her up in a second, "Hi!"

"Eh! What… you… doing… I…" Ichigo stammered uncomfortably as Johnny lifted her easily.

"You…!" said Kashino, scooting over and punching Johnny across the head. He put Ichigo down.

"What the hell are you doing?" yelled Kashino, an arm in front of Ichigo protectively.

_K-Kashino… _thought Ichigo, blushing for two reasons.

"Saying 'hi', duh!" said Johnny, grinning.

"This is Japan!" shouted Kashino, "That's not how we say 'hi' here!"

"Hey, little boy," said Johnny, ruffling Kashino's hair not fazed a bit, "You lost your mother?"

"Who're you calling little boy, huh?" yelled Kashino, stepping away from him, "Wow, he's tall…"

"Excuse me…" said another voice as the door opened.

"Eh?" said both boys, looking over at the speaker.

_This voice… _thought Ichigo, turning around, "Lemon-chan!"

"Hey, you're…" said Kashino.

"Lemon…?" said Johnny, "Oh! You're another member of my team! Right?"

"Eh? Ichigo-sempai!" said Lemon, her face brightening. Lemon's spirit, Mint, flew over and started talking with Vanilla and Chocolat.

"What are you all doing here?" asked Lemon as the four of them stood around in a circle.

"I got an invitation," said Ichigo, reaching into her bag and pulling out the envelope.

"Me too," said Kashino, holding up his.

"Same here!" said Johnny, taking out his.

"I suppose you have one, too?" said Kashino to Lemon who held up the same envelope, "Yeah."

"What is this all about?" asked Ichigo.

"Something about a project I think the teacher who gave me mine said," said Lemon.

"A project?" said Ichigo, suddenly remembering Tennouji's words; _I'm leaving right away though, to participate in Henri-sensei's project. He may also want to involve you in the project as well, Amano-san._

_Is this the project Tennouji-san was talking about? _Wondered Ichigo.

"Your teacher is right," said another female voice suddenly as the door opened again.

They all looked at her.

"Sully-san!" Ichigo said as the familiar, beautiful woman came into the shop. Her looks were impeccable like in Paris and her pale, expensive-looking grey suit looked like it was tailored especially for her.

"It looks like everyone is here," she said, eyeing each person for a second, "As you know, you were called out here for a project. Please follow me so we can explain the details."

* * *

><p>As the four and the Sweets Spirits followed the secretary through the town they finally came to a large castle. When they walked up, Lemon, Ichigo and their spirit's eyes sparkling, they came to a balcony type area where a blonde man waited expectantly for them. Kashino flinched and instinctively tuned out the screaming he knew was coming.<p>

"Henri-sensei!" cried Ichigo naturally. Kashino nearly groaned out loud as the brunette started looking dreamy again.

"Hello everyone," said the patissier warmly. He seemed to smile noticeably warmer towards Ichigo which made Kashino's blood boil for some odd reason, "As you know, I have been planning a special project for some time. The project is right before you: Marie's Garden. I want to open this place with plenty of sweets shops run by promising patissiers and patissieres. That would be you people and many others I have chosen such as Tennouji Mari in New York. I want this group to redecorate and open the shop you've just been standing in on Main Street into a fabulous new sweets shop."

"O-Oi, Henri-sensei!"

"Eh?" said Kashino, looking over at Johnny who had suddenly become angry over some matter.

"What's wrong?" asked Henri-sensei.

"I thought you said you were going to leave the whole project to me!" said Johnny.

"Well, I did say you could help," said the Frenchman, "But I never said that I was leaving the whole thing in your hands. I know you like to do things on your own but a sweets shop never only has one employee, am I correct?"

Johnny flinched, clearly having lost the argument. Kashino smiled smugly; _maybe this Henri-sensei isn't so bad after all._

**And, there's the second chapter! I actually wished in the actual anime, Kashino and Ichigo had held hands while walking to Marie's Garden; it would have been kawaii! **

**Note: Just to clear things up, I don't hate Johnny either; I think he's hilarious and awesome actually. :)**

**Please review~**


	4. Hurt

Chapter Three: Hurt

_We're opening sweets shops? _Thought Ichigo, a bit nervous. Managing a whole store at sixteen years old seemed scary yet exciting at the same time. Ichigo smiled at the idea but a whole lot of negative thoughts also bombarded her mind. She tried to shake those thoughts out of her mind.

"Anyway," said Henri-sensei, "With that announced; I want you all to rest up and go back to St Marie Academy. Think up some ideas about the décor and theme of your shop. Also what kinds of sweets you're going to be selling. There are other things you should think about also, but I'll let you figure that out for yourselves. You'll be given a limited budget to manage your store. Lastly, do you all want to participate in this project?"

"Definitely!" said Johnny and Lemon in unison, grinning happily.

"Yeah, why not?" said Kashino. All of them looked expectantly at Ichigo, including the Spirits.

"I'll do it!" she smiled.

"Great," smiled Henri-sensei, "I'll see you all tomorrow."

With that, he and his assistant Sully walked away.

"Yay! Running a shop together with Ichigo and Lemon!" said Johnny, the minute they were gone, picking up Lemon first, "Round and round you go~!"

"Ahhh!" screamed Lemon.

After about five spins, Lemon was finally put down. She held her head, a little bit uncoordinated. Mint flew to her, concerned.

"I-I'm fine," assured Lemon.

Suddenly, Kashino was in front of Ichigo in a protective stance like the way a wild animal might protect its young or love. Ichigo blushed at the thought of that.

"Don't you even think about it," said Kashino in a deadly voice.

"Geez, so defensive, little boy," said Johnny, frowning but shrugged, "Oh well. I'll see you soon anyway, baby," he said, looking past Kashino at Ichigo and winked.

"OI!" said Kashino and Ichigo nearly jumped at how aggressive he sounded.

Johnny rolled his eyes, "Geez." He turned around and walked off the balcony type thing. Lemon followed closely behind, "I'll just leave now. See you soon, Kashino-sempai, Ichigo-sempai."

"Bye bye!" waved Mint.

"Bye," said the two and their Spirits. As Lemon went down a flight of stairs back to the ground, Ichigo turned to Kashino, "What was that?"

"Nani?" said Kashino.

"About Johnny. You didn't have to be so aggressive with him. He's just being Johnny."

"He could just greet people normally and talk normally without picking people up all the time," said Kashino, obviously angry.

"There's nothing wrong with it," insisted Ichigo, "Lemon and I aren't hurt or anything. Maybe this thing is very common in America."

"Trust me, it's not," said Kashino, walking back towards the stairs, "Anyway, I'm going to go back first. You better hurry. The train is leaving soon."

Once he was out of her sight, Ichigo let out a frustrated sigh, "Why do they have to hate each other before we even open the shop? Why do they hate each other anyway?"

"Who knows…" said Vanilla, "It must be a male thing."

_DAMMIT, ICHIGO, WHY ARE YOU SO DENSE? _Vanilla screamed in her head.

"Maybe," said Ichigo, sighing, "Johnny and Kashino are both really good patissiers but it won't work unless they work together." She walked towards the stairs herself since she had to get back to the academy soon, "I just hope they won't argue anymore."

"They're professionals," said Vanilla, "I'm sure they won't fight while managing a shop."

"I hope so…" said Ichigo, "But Marie's Garden really is beautiful. We'll manage a great sweets shop, right, Vanilla?"

"Yeah!" nodded Vanilla, smiling.

Ichigo walked out of Marie's Garden, looking back once; _can we really manage a shop?_

"Ichigo!" called Vanilla, flying ahead, "Come on! You're going to miss the train back!"

"Y-Yeah!" said Ichigo, hurrying ahead, "When does the train leave?"

"5 minutes," replied Vanilla.

"NANI?" yelled Ichigo, sprinting ahead, "Why didn't you tell me that earlier?"

"Because I forgot!" said Vanilla, "But run! Or you'll miss the rest of your classes and Kashino's cooking date!"

"Huh?" said Ichigo, suddenly remembering, "AH! KASHINO! I FORGOT!"

"Yes, that's obvious," said Vanilla, "Hurry!"

"Do you know how hard it is to run in a dress?" said Ichigo, "I'm going as fast as I can!"

_4 and a quarter of a minute later…_

"We're finally here!" panted Ichigo, leaning on the entrance to the train station, "Just wait a minute…"

"We have no minute! Come on!" cried Vanilla, taking one of Ichigo's fingers and trying to pull her along and failing to do so, of course.

"Hai, hai, I'm coming…" said Ichigo, walking along, "Where's my train supposed to come in, anyway?"

"Right… here…?" said Vanilla, flying to the edge of the platform and looking out. The back of the train greeted her, "EH? ICHIGO! WE MISSED OUR TRAIN!"

"NANI?" cried Ichigo, crying anime-style, "Why…?"

"Hey, baby, you need a ride?" asked a familiar voice.

"No, but thanks for asking," said Ichigo, still crying anime-style.

"Uh…" said the blonde American.

"Eh?" said Ichigo, abruptly stopped crying and turning around, "Johnny! What are you still doing here? Did you miss the train?"

"No," said Johnny, "I didn't even come here on a train. I have a motorbike."

"A motorbike?" said Ichigo.

"Yeah," said Johnny, "Anyway, do you want a ride or not?"

"Ichigo, you haven't got a choice," said Vanilla, hidden under her hair again.

Ichigo nodded, "Yes, thank you, Johnny!"

_Soon…_

"WHAT?" cried Johnny in disbelief, "You're telling me you've NEVER rode on a motorbike?"

"Never," said Ichigo, "Otou-san always told me and Natsume they weren't safe." She remembered an instant when she was about seven.

_Flashback_

_A young Ichigo and even younger Natsume walked along the street with their parents when a motorbike suddenly zoomed by. Ichigo, being Ichigo, was instantly impressed and interested and turned around to her father, "Ne, ne, papa, can I have a go on one of those?" She pointed to the motorbike as it made a dangerous turn on the road, narrowly missing an oncoming car. Obviously the rider wasn't the safest person to be with._

"_It does look interesting," said Natsume, "Onegai, papa?"_

_Her father was vigorously shaking his head, "NO! NO! OVER MY DEAD BODY WILL YOU EVER GET ON SUCH A THING!"_

_End Flashback_

"Well, maybe your father's right," nodded Johnny, considering this, "… IF you were riding with someone inexperienced! But don't worry with me; I'll get you back safely, I promise! Just get on and hold on tight!"

Ichigo hesitantly climbed on and sat there, "Ano… where do I hold on?"

Johnny fell down, anime-style with his feet up but immediately got back up, "Wow, you've really never been on a motorbike before! You wrap your arms around me."

"E-EH?" cried Ichigo, her face turning a deep red and steam rising from her.

"Ichigo, just do it!" hissed Vanilla, "How else are you supposed to get back?"

"I know!" whispered Ichigo, "You don't have to be so pushy!" She wrapped her arms around Johnny's torso as he placed a helmet on her head, "Does that fit right?"

"Y-Yeah," nodded Ichigo as he put his own helmet on his head.

"OK! LET'S GO!" cheered Johnny, revving up the engine. It gave an almighty roar, louder than Ichigo expected but bearable, and zoomed off.

Ichigo's stomach gave a flip and her grip on Johnny tightened until she was sure she was crushing his ribs. Johnny didn't seem to mind, concentrating on driving and dodging cars.

"Whee!" cheered Vanilla from under Ichigo's hair, "Ichigo, this is fun! We never have stuff like this in the Sweets Kingdom! Aren't you having fun, Ichigo?"

Ichigo smiled and gradually began enjoying the wind in her hair, her trust in Johnny rising, "Yeah!"

* * *

><p>As Kashino arrived at the gates of St Marie Academy, he noticed Lemon standing outside them, "Kashino-sempai!"<p>

"Chocolat-sempai!" greeted Mint.

"Hey," said Kashino. He looked around, "Where's Amano and Johnny?" He had planned on waiting for Ichigo at the train station when he arrived to make sure she stayed out of trouble but he never saw her.

_Maybe she's already left, _Kashino had thought at the time. Now he wasn't so sure.

"I haven't seen her," replied Lemon, sounding worried, "I thought she would come back with you. Johnny hasn't come back either but he did take his motorbike which should take longer to arrive here I suppose."

Kashino nodded. Johnny's lateness made sense but not Ichigo's. He took out his phone, scrolling through his contacts until he reached hers and called it, holding the phone to his ear, "Geez, if she somehow got stuck on the train, had to get off at the next stop and meets some foreigner playboy again…"

"A-Ano, Kashino-sempai…?" said Lemon, backing away from a dark energy that suddenly surrounded the blonde.

* * *

><p>"Do you hear something ringing?" asked Ichigo as she heard a faint ringing but it was overpowered by the engine's roar and the wind whistling in her ear.<p>

"No," answered Vanilla, "It's probably just the wind."

"Yeah, that must be it," said Ichigo.

"WHEE!" they both cheered as Johnny laughed, pleased Ichigo was enjoying herself.

* * *

><p>"Why isn't she picking up?" asked Kashino darkly, disconnecting the call and snapping his phone shut, "Dammit, Amano, if you get in trouble again…"<p>

"Are you worried?" asked Chocolat, interested. She had gotten a message from Vanilla through her fork and knew exactly where they were so she wasn't concerned. Kashino was still completely oblivious of his feelings so she wanted to hint subtly.

"Of course I am!" said Kashino, "That girl's attracts trouble like a magnet!"

"You know, you didn't worry when Johnny picked up Lemon but you did when he was about to pick up Ichigo."

Kashino flinched, "T-That's…" He blushed a faint pink as he searched for an answer, finding none.

Chocolat smiled smugly at the blush that was clear on his face, _it seems the two years didn't affect his feelings for Ichigo. The boy's as helpless and clueless as ever. _

Just then, the bell rang for class. Kashino didn't move, his eyes fixed on the road, waiting for her to come back.

"Kashino-sempai, I'm going to class," said Lemon, "If Ichigo-sempai is in class, I'll let you know."

"Yeah," said Kashino, not turning around.

As Lemon went away, a few minutes passed. Chocolat flew concernedly in the air as ten minutes passed. Were Vanilla and Ichigo really okay?

_What are those two doing? _Thought Chocolat bitterly. She flew down to Kashino, "Kashino, you can go to class. I'll keep watch out here."

"I'm not leaving until I see her," said Kashino.

Chocolat opened her mouth but couldn't find a reply. Instead she smiled, _that's the way, Kashino._

Just then, a roaring sound interrupted their conversation. As they looked up, a motorbike came into their view and stopped near them. A girl got off the back and took off her helmet. She looked at Kashino, surprised, "Kashino?"

"Amano!" said Kashino, "Where were you?"

"Don't worry; she was safe with me," said the driver, taking off his helmet.

"Johnny!" said Kashino, "What happened anyway for you to go on a motorbike?" he asked Ichigo.

"I missed the train," said Ichigo. Kashino and Chocolat fell down, feet up anime-style.

"Are you kidding?" yelled Kashino. He shut his eyes and frowned. _Of course it had to be something like that._

"Hey, boy…" said Johnny, walking up to stand next to Ichigo, "Don't tell me… someone like you was _worried_?"

"Johnny," said Ichigo, blushing again.

"No!" Kashino's first reaction was. Then he realised how uncaring he sounded and talked to cover it up, "Why should I worry?" He turned around and walked away.

"Kashino…" said Ichigo, the hurt plain on her face.

_Kashino Makoto! _Thought Chocolat, slapping her hand to her face and flying after him, "Kashino!"

Once she caught up with him around the stairs leading into the building, Chocolat opened her mouth, "What was that?" she demanded.

Kashino paused and leaned his head against one of the stone pillars, "I don't know."

* * *

><p>"Huh," said Johnny, "'Why should I worry'," he copied Kashino's voice, "Don't worry about him Ichigo. Hey, let's go for a ride. It'll cheer you up." He put his arm around her and sounded hopeful.<p>

"I'm going to class," said Ichigo, walking into the school, shrugging off his arm. She turned around, "Thank you for bringing me back to school." Then she walked towards the cooking room where her class was.

"Ichigo," said Vanilla, flying next to her, "Are you okay?"

"Yes," said Ichigo, a second too quickly. Although she made it clear she didn't want to talk on the topic anymore. Vanilla respected that and stayed quiet. Ichigo got changed into her usual cooking outfit and tied up her hair.

As she went into the classroom, the teacher Ameya-sensei walked over, "Amano, you're late. Do you have a late slip or any sort of excuse?"

"Gomenasai, but no," said Ichigo, "I just missed the train while coming back to school."

Ameya-sensei sighed. Naturally Ichigo. It was no real big surprise. She had a soft spot for her though and decided to excuse her this time, "OK, Amano. I'll excuse this one and only one time. Please report to your cooking station. We're making mille crepes for our first cooking session this year."

Ichigo almost laughed. The first cooking she'd ever done at St Marie Academy was mille crepes too. She nodded, "Hai. Thank you, Ameya-sensei." She walked to Rumi and Lemon who were already working.

"Ichigo-sempai!" said Lemon, "You're back!"

"Yeah," smiled Ichigo, "I just missed the train."

Rumi and Lemon sweat-dropped, "Okay…"

"Anyway, what can I do?" asked Ichigo, rolling up her sleeves.

Rumi smiled and handed her a large bowl and a whisk, "You can combine the ingredients while Lemon and I work on the decorating stuff."

"Okay!" smiled Ichigo, mixing the ingredients and poured some into a pan. She tried to concentrate but Kashino kept appearing in her head. _Why should I worry?_

_Kashino… did he mean that? _Thought Ichigo, tears threatening to come.

"Ichigo, it's burning!" said Vanilla.

"Huh?" said Ichigo, snapping back to reality and looking at the burning crepe, "Ah!"

"Eh?" said Rumi, looking up from cutting strawberries, "Ah! It's burnt!"

"Gomenasai!" said Ichigo.

Rumi gave a little laugh, "Don't mind, Ichigo! We still have plenty of time; just make some more! I'll keep an eye on it too."

"Talk about déjà vu," said Vanilla, "Can you remember an incident like this 2 years ago, too?"

"Vanilla!" said Ichigo quietly, tipping some mixture into the pan and throwing out the burnt crepe.

The rest of the crepes were made perfectly and decorated beautifully with whipped cream and strawberries.

"Spectacular," said Ameya-sensei as she cut a bit and ate it, "As expected from A Group. Even though one member is missing."

"Yeah, Johnny…" said Lemon.

"Although, none the less, remarkable," sad Ameya-sensei, "I'm giving you top marks for this one. That is a wonderful achievement. You all may go to your next class after you've cleaned up." She took notes down on her clipboard and proceeded to the next cooking station.

"Did you hear that, Ichigo?" cried Rumi, turning and grinning at her, "Top marks for our first sweet this year! Ichigo?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, it's great!" said Ichigo, trying her best to sound excited, despite her sad feelings.

"Ichigo-sempai…" said Lemon, looking at her concernedly.

"Ichigo-chwan," said Mint, flying above Lemon's head.

"Did I just hear something?" asked Rumi, a confused look on her face, "Well, whatever. We have to clean up so, come on!"

As Ichigo rinsed the mixing bowl under cold water, her mind still wandered. _Kashino… Did he really mean what he said?_

* * *

><p>Kashino's egg broke, the white and yolk going everywhere. He flinched. He hardly ever broke eggs.<p>

"REALLY, KASHINO?" bellowed Chocolat which most of the egg had landed on, "ARE YOU DOING THIS ON PURPOSE NOW OR SOMETHING? DON'T THINK I'VE FORGOTTEN THAT THIS HAPPENED TWO YEARS AGO AS WELL!"

"Sorry, Chocolat," said Kashino as he cleaned up the mess. His class were each focussing on individual projects this session so luckily he didn't get in anyone else's way.

Chocolat looked at his frustrated expression and decided he already had enough to worry about without her screaming in his face. She folded her arms and shut her eyes, "Fine. I'll let it slide. For now." She hoped she sounded more serious than she looked with egg shells in her hair.

"Thank you," said Kashino as he began shaping some marzipan. He was making a chocolate cake which was already baking in the oven. He would decorate it with marzipan figures and drizzle some chocolate over it for the final touch. He finished shaping his first marzipan as Chocolat cried from the stove, "Kashino! The chocolate's past its heating limit! You've turned the fire up too high!"

"Crap!" said Kashino rushing over to the stove. Just as Chocolat said, the chocolate had been heated too much and its temperature was too high. It couldn't be used anymore.

"Damn it," muttered Kashino. He still had time to make some more chocolate to drizzle the cake with but he hated wasting chocolate. Although, in the state the chocolate was, it couldn't be used for anything and still taste good.

"Kashino…" said Chocolat. _He isn't concentrating… I don't know whether it's a good sign since he recognises his mistake in saying what he did or a bad sign since he'll flunk out of his classes at this rate. Next time, he won't have enough time to redo anything. _

_As class ended…_

The rest of the class had already went back to their rooms or to the Salon de Marie as classes ended. Kashino was the only one left in the cooking room.

"So I suppose since Amano's coming here, we'll just wait, right?" said Kashino. He had already cleaned up everything and just had to wait for Ichigo so they could start making sweets together like the old times. Kashino smiled. He had more fun than he could have ever imagined since Ichigo had joined their group.

"Yeah," said Chocolat.

* * *

><p>As the bell rang, signalling the end of class, Ichigo started packing up her books in French class. As she shoved the book in her bag, Vanilla flew close to her, "Finally! Now you have that cooking session with Kashino!"<p>

"Yeah," said Ichigo, getting out of her seat and following the rest of the students out of the door. Then, unexpectedly, she turned in the opposite direction than the cooking room.

"Eh? Ichigo!" said Vanilla, flying after her, "The cooking room's that way!"

"I know," said Ichigo, making no move to turn around, "I'm not going."


	5. Feelings

Chapter Four: Feelings

"Amano Ichigo!" said Vanilla sharply, flying quickly so she floated in front of Ichigo's face, "It's not like you to hold such a grudge! Besides, you know he doesn't mean it! The boy's just confused!"

"Vanilla…" sighed Ichigo, "I know. It's just… what if he did mean it? So many things have changed over the two years. What if his impression of me has also changed along with everything else?"

_ICHIGO, HE LOVES YOU! _The words were threatening to burst out of Vanilla's mouth but she stubbornly held them back. She wouldn't spoil the surprise, nor would Chocolat let her live if she did.

"He wouldn't have, Ichigo," said Vanilla, flying alongside her, "Don't worry about it! Just go to the cooking room and if his feelings actually have changed, you can run out at any time."

Ichigo sighed and kept walking until she arrived at her dorm room. Vanilla was about to snap from the four little words trying to barge themselves out of her mouth. She held them back but stayed quiet as she was afraid if she did open her mouth, she would somehow yell that sentence in her face.

"Ichigo!" said Rumi welcomingly as Ichigo went in the room. She was lying on her bed, flipping through a book on sweets, "This is… unusual. Usually you'd go to the Salon de Marie or practice in the cooking room."

"Well, I just didn't feel like it today," replied Ichigo, sitting on her bad and kicking off her shoes, "What are you doing?"

"Well actually, I was about to go to the cooking room," said Rumi as she turned a page in the book, "I was thinking… Well, I'm in A Group now with you and Lemon who are both so skilled, one of you won the Grand Prix and the other was bumped up a year and the other never attends classes but is supposedly skilled. Because of that, I'm thinking I should improve my skills and stuff."

"Don't be ridiculous, you're a great patissiere!" insisted Ichigo.

"Thank you," smiled Rumi, shutting the book and getting up, "Well, whether or not I was going to be placed in A Group or not, I made a resolution to practice more. When you came here Ichigo, I was inspired by you who went out every night to practice or stayed up late to study sweets, determined to catch up to everyone else. I was inspired to try just as hard as you did. So thank you, Ichigo. I will definitely become a great patissiere and practice more and more while loving sweets the whole time."

Ichigo widened her eyes at Rumi sounding so excited to practice and smiled, "That's wonderful, Rumi."

Rumi smiled and went out, tucking her book under her arm, "Thank you so much, Ichigo."

As the door closed, an indigo flicker caught Ichigo's eye. She looked up and saw an indigo light flying behind Rumi.

"Huh?" said Ichigo just as the door closed. She turned to Vanilla, "Did you see that?"

"Yes," nodded Vanilla, "That was Orchard. She's finally come here to find a human partner! Anyway, Ichigo!" she turned to her partner, "Would you just please go to the cooking room?"

"I'm not going, Vanilla," said Ichigo, lying down and turning on her side, "Just let it go."

Vanilla sighed but she couldn't drag Ichigo there without making a scene so she stayed quiet, _I hope Chocolat can convince Kashino to do something._

* * *

><p>"She's late," said Kashino aloud as he took out his phone and called her number, "So some things really can't change." It rang for a long time before a voice told him his call could not be connected. Kashino sighed and snapped his phone shut, <em>would she really have been so upset about this?<em>

Just then, the door opened and Kashino looked up expectantly but it was only Rumi, Ichigo's roommate. She widened her eyes at him, "Kashino-kun! Konichiwa!" Then her eyes noticed something and stared at Chocolat, "Wait, you have one too?"

"Nani? You can see her?" said Kashino, looking at Chocolat.

"Orchard!" said Chocolat, smiling widely. Kashino stared at her in surprise. He only ever saw small smiles from his Spirit instead of huge grins.

"Chocolat!" said a Spirit. She had long straight hair, the length of her entire body, the colour of the darkest shade of indigo until it was almost black. A few locks of hair fell loose at the front so it partly covered her left eye. Some of her hair was pulled back from the front into a flat ponytail, held in place with a large violet blossom clip. She wore a warm orange kimono the colour of sunset, decorated with pink blossoms and green leaves. Her violet eyes, like all Spirits, were large and friendly. An elegant yet warm aura radiated off her.

"A Sweet Spirit?" cried Kashino, staring at the spirit.

"Sweet Spirit?" said Rumi, realisation dawning, "Like in the legends?"

"Yes," said Orchard in a soft, musical like voice, "I am Orchard, a Spirit from the Sweets Kingdom. I specialise in sweets involving fruit and I was interested in your determination, love of sweets and unselfish personality. I would like for you to be my partner."

Rumi blinked a couple of times and pinched herself on the face. Then, realising it wasn't a dream, she smiled, "Sure! Wow, you're really beautiful. My name's Rumi, we'll work hard together, okay?" She held out a hand but changed her mind and held out a finger.

Orchard took her finger and smiled pleasantly, "Yes. Thank you, Rumi."

"Hey, how do you know Orchard?" whispered Kashino to Chocolat.

"She's one of the kindest Spirits in the kingdom," whispered Chocolat, "Elegant, kind, beautiful and skilled with a love of sweets… We actually thought she was the Queen's daughter for a while. She's friends with everyone and like the older sister of us. She's a couple of years older than Caramel. Before she went to train somewhere, she was the only one able to stop Vanilla and I from fighting. She asked Café and Caramel to make sure Vanilla and I don't get too violent. That was a year ago. She's finally come back."

"Oh," said Kashino. Then he smiled, "It's nice another person has a lifelong friend then."

"Yeah," nodded Chocolat. Then she spoke to Orchard, "You've finally come back."

Orchard smiled angelically, "Yes. My specialty is fruit but I went around the kingdom to train in other areas. I've learned a bit about chocolate when I visited the falls as well."

"Great," smiled Chocolat.

"So what are you doing here?" asked Kashino to Rumi.

"Practicing," replied Rumi, "What about you?"

"Uh…" said Kashino, blushing slightly.

"Eh?" said Rumi since of course she saw the blush. She blinked, "Did I say something?"

"He has a date with Ichigo," answered Chocolat, proud and bold, "Only she hasn't come down yet. I suppose some things will never change."

"Hontou?" said Rumi, "She went up to our room just now… Wait, did something happen? She seemed a bit sad…"

_Damn it! _Cursed Kashino, frowning slightly and making a frustrated sound. Rumi blinked curiously and then brightened, "Oh… Something happened in Paris, right? A spark, perhaps?"

"O-Oi!" said Kashino, his blush deepening.

Rumi laughed, "Don't worry, I'm just teasing. Do you want me to go get her since you can't go to the girl's dorm?"

"No, she won't come down," said Kashino. _If I know her, she'd never come down if she didn't want to see me even if the army went to drag her down_, "We'll just get through to her the only way she allows; through sweets."

Rumi nodded, "I'll help if you want."

"Yeah," nodded Kashino, "I want to get it finished as soon as possible."

"What are we making?" asked Rumi.

"Sachertorte," said Kashino.

"Huh?" said Rumi, imaginary question marks popping up above her head.

"Sachertorte is a cake from Austria," explained Orchard, "It's the cake made in the semi-finals of the Cake Grand Prix by both Team Ichigo and Team Koshiro. It consists of two layers of chocolate cake like sponge cake and apricot jam in the middle. The design is usually quite simple and the taste is not overly sweet."

"Oh?" said Chocolat, her eyes bright, "You have learnt about chocolate!"

_That's true, _thought Kashino, "Anyway, we're not doing this exactly as the ordinary Sachertorte cake. We're going to have an assortment of fruit on top instead of the usual simple design. Chocolat and I will work on the base and icing. Rumi, you and Orchard work on the fruit design and apricot jam."

"Hai," said the three of them, each of them doing their own jobs. Kashino went to his station and started combining ingredients for the base. Chocolat used magic to do some of the other things. Rumi started preparing a lot of fruit for the top and later started working on the apricot jam. Orchard floated about, helping everyone whenever they needed a hand.

Finally, the baked and iced cake sat on the counter before them. All that was left was the decoration.

"Wait," said Rumi, placing a perfectly done chocolate plate on the cake in the centre (the kind where you write words on it; I have no idea what it's called), "I asked Chocolat to help me with it when we were done with our jobs. Now you can write your apology on it."

"How did you—?" said Kashino, turning red. He certainly didn't tell her about his failed talk-to-cover-up plan which accidentally hurt his teammate's feelings. He glared at Chocolat.

"I figured it out!" said Rumi brightly, "A woman has instincts, after all!"

"Y-Yeah…" said Kashino.

"Here you go," said Rumi, giving him an icing pen, "The plate's not very big so I guess you could only write 'I'm sorry' or just 'Sorry' on it."

"Kashino, you can't write it," said Chocolat, "You have terrible handwriting with a pen; I can only imagine how illegible your writing would be with an icing pen."

"Oi!" said Kashino.

"Don't worry, Chocolat," smiled Rumi kindly, "I'm sure Ichigo would be able to read it no matter how messy his writing is."

_5 minutes later…_

"Well…" said Rumi, sweat-dropping at the writing, "Maybe she'll know what it says."

The lines of the word were shaky, had stuck together and overall, looked like a little blob of white with a few bare spaces.

"What did I say?" said Chocolat.

"I have nothing to say," said Orchard.

"Shut up," said Kashino irritably, "Let's start decorating the rest of the cake with fruit before the chocolate melts."

When they finished arranging the fruit pieces around the chocolate plate, they carefully placed the finished cake onto a cloche and put the lid over it. Rumi held it securely in both hands, "I'll make sure she gets it. I'm so sorry you have to wash up everything by yourself. Are you sure you don't want me to stay and help? I'm sure the cake will be fine."

"Thank you," said Kashino, smiling slightly, "It's all right; just get the cake to her."

"Yeah," nodded Rumi, "Thank you, Kashino-kun!" With that, she left the room.

As her footsteps faded away, Kashino sighed and turned to Chocolat, "What if she doesn't forgive me, Chocolat?"

"Oh yes, because only when I'm around do you start being depressed and doubting your work," Chocolat rolled her eyes, "And besides, Ichigo is the one who inspired the whole group into putting our full feelings into every sweet we've made. Don't you think she'd know your feelings when she's so good at taking them into consideration? Don't worry about it. Besides, whether or not she detects your feelings, she'll forgive you anyway for making her a delicious cake, the cake-eating glutton."

"Don't talk about her that way, Chocolat!" shouted Kashino suddenly, before flinching at his own outburst, "Sorry."

Instead of being angry though, Chocolat just sighed tiredly, _even as I purposefully insult her and he defends her, still he can't discover his own feelings? _Then she just smiled, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't talk about her that way. You really care for her a lot, Kashino; more than anyone you've ever met, right?" She hoped she sounded casual.

Kashino seemed to buy it but stayed quiet for a while before finally replying, "Yeah."

* * *

><p>Rumi quietly opened the door, in case Ichigo was sleeping but she was sitting cross-legged on top of her bed in her pyjamas, looking through what seemed like a diary. She looked up when Rumi came into the room, "Rumi-chan! Welcome back!"<p>

"I'm back," said Rumi, quietly closing the door behind her while balancing the cloche in the palm of her hand.

"EH? A SPIRIT!" cried Ichigo suddenly, catching sight of Orchard, _I KNEW IT! I KNEW RUMI-CHAN HAD TO HAVE A SPIRIT! Why wouldn't a Spirit choose her?_

_After the introductions (don't want to rewrite everything again)…_

"By the way, what's that?" asked Ichigo, looking at the cloche which Rumi still held in her hand.

"It's a gift from Kashino-kun for you."

"Eh?" said Ichigo, surprised. She hadn't expected Kashino to actually do anything and she just wanted the whole thing to blow over and then forget about it in a few days. She lifted the lid of the cloche Rumi gave her and nearly choked on her own spit in surprise.

The cake was large and a beautiful chocolate brown colour. On the top was an arrangement of fruit around a thin chocolate plate. Ichigo had to stare at the icing words on the plate for a few seconds before realising it said 'Sorry'. The whole cake was beautiful.

Ichigo smiled widely and Rumi let out a sigh of relief. She liked it.

"The writing sucks," said Ichigo suddenly. Rumi fell down anime style and laughed nervously, "Well…"

"But that's okay," said Ichigo, getting a fork out of nowhere, "Itadakimasu!" She stuck the fork in and took out a large piece, popping it into her mouth. Rumi started to pray mentally the cake tasted good.

* * *

><p>"Finally finished," said Kashino, putting the last washed, rinsed and dried equipment into their proper places.<p>

"Good job, Kashino," said Chocolat. She looked out one of the huge windows, "It's getting dark, Kashino. You'd better get some rest since you're going to Marie's Garden tomorrow. You also have to sketch your idea for the shop."

"Yeah," said Kashino as he went to get changed back into his usual clothes. When he did, he switched off the lights and left the building, walking back to the boys' dorm.

_I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out what Amano thinks, _thought Kashino, feeling impatient already. Suddenly, a boy he knew from the first years' came running towards him, "Kashino-san, here." He gave Kashino his sketchbook with a pencil.

"Huh? What's this for?" said Kashino, confused, "And wait, how did you get my book?"

"I don't know," answered the boy, "Rumi-san asked me to give it to you for some reason. And your dorm room was unlocked so it was easy. Anyway, see you!" The guy ran away.

"Huh?" said Kashino confused as he looked at his book, _What's Rumi up to?_

* * *

><p>"I have to find Kashino," said Ichigo, running towards the door.<p>

"Ichigo!" said Vanilla, "Clothes, clothes!"

"Oh yeah," said Ichigo, running to her closet and grabbing the first things she could find which were clothes from Paris. She hurriedly dressed in white jeans with a black silky sleeveless top and black flats. A simple black headband completed her look. She ran out, "I'll be back soon!"

"Ichigo!" called Rumi. Ichigo turned around just in time to catch her sketchbook with a pencil, "Ah! What's this for?"

"Trust me; you'll need it," smiled Rumi knowingly.

"Okay…" said Ichigo, running out.

"What is she up to?" wondered Kashino aloud, looking at his sketchbook. Why had Rumi randomly requested someone to give him his sketchbook?

Just then, a voice sounded, "Kashino!"

Kashino turned around and saw Ichigo running towards him. Suddenly she tripped over a random rock, "Ah!"

"Amano!" said Kashino, shocked she suddenly tripped.

_This is perfect! _Thought the two Spirits- Vanilla and Chocolat –excitedly as Kashino rushed forward to catch her, dropping his sketchbook in the process.

_Demo… _thought both Spirits, _what's with the random rock in the middle of the grass?_

* * *

><p><strong>Yes, I know this is the most cliché thing to ever exist but it's cute I have no design ability for cakes whatsoever so sorry for that. <strong>

**Don't forget to Review!**


	6. Cold

Chapter Five: Cold

"Oof!" said Ichigo, crashing into something. Two things were wrapped around her back, holding her steady. She opened her eyes and saw the brown-blonde eyes of Kashino. Her lips were nearly brushing his and the two things around her back were his arms.

"A-Ah!" said Ichigo, pushing herself up, "Gomenasai!" Her heart was spluttering like crazy and she was sure her face was crimson coloured. She took a few deep breaths and walked over to Kashino, "A-Are you hurt? I'm so sorry!"

"It's OK," said Kashino, getting up. His face was so red; it could be mistaken for a tomato, "Are you hurt?"

"No," answered Ichigo, walking over to where his sketchbook had fallen and putting the loose sheets into the book, "Sorry, I'll help you put these back." One sheet particularly caught her eye. A corner of the sheet poked out from under the book showing a Japanese character and a date underneath it showing the title of the picture and the date it was drawn.

"Hm?" said Ichigo, looking at the familiar character, "Amano I—"

"EH?" yelled Kashino, running over and snatching the whole bunch of papers and book, "That's nothing!"

"Amano I?" said Ichigo, looking confused but smiling, seeing Kashino all right and normal, "Oh well. It's good to see you're OK. Why do you have your sketchbook anyway? Have you sketched your idea for the shop yet?"

"No, not yet," replied Kashino, shoving the papers into the book carelessly away from her view.

"Maybe you could sketch together then!" suggested Vanilla, "It's good to swap ideas and share opinions, you know." She looked meaningfully at Chocolat.

"Yes, yes!" encouraged Chocolat, "That's a great idea! And since you two are so different, you'll each have different good and bad things to point out for each other's ideas so they can improve!"

"Okay!" agreed Ichigo, naïve as ever, _it should be fun~_

Kashino looked at the two Spirits a little suspiciously but shrugged, "Fine."

Soon, they were sitting along the bank of the large lake in St Marie Academy, sketching away.

"You know, those sketches were really good," said Ichigo as she sketched, smiling, "You're really good at sketching. And this spot is really nice too."

"Thanks," said Kashino, smiling slightly, "I liked to draw when I was little, drawing sweets designs and designs of my own shop I hoped to own one day. I like to sketch outside; I get my best ideas when I'm in a calm, quiet place and this was one."

Ichigo smiled and they continued to draw in silence for a while before Kashino broke the silence.

"Ne, Amano…" said Kashino hesitantly as he sketched.

"Yeah, what is it?" said Ichigo politely.

"About that cake… did it taste good?" he blushed slightly and looked away, Ichigo failing to notice of course. The two Spirits sat on a tree branch, spying and interested in their partners' relationship.

"Oh yeah, that's what I wanted to tell you about!" recalled Ichigo, "That Sachertorte…"

"You knew it was called that?" said Kashino, turning around.

"Sure!" nodded Ichigo, "I remembered the same composition of the cake we made in the semi-finals of the Cake Grand Prix. I'll never forget that day."

"Why?" asked Kashino, poker faced and looking at her.

"Because I thought I had lost you that day—" Ichigo managed to glimpse Kashino's eyes widen and a surprised sound coming from him before she realised what she'd just said, "I mean, we thought we lost you that day."

Kashino began to say something but Ichigo interrupted, "Anyway! That Sachertorte was… really good." She closed her eyes as she remembered the taste, "The apricot jam added a flavour. The fruit was refreshing and delicious. The cake's not overly sweet chocolate was done perfectly. I knew the chocolate must have been done by you and Chocolat." She looked at him with sadness in her face, "I'm sorry for overreacting about that thing you said."

"What are you talking about?" protested Kashino, "I'm the one who should be sorry; I'm the one who said it."

"But I shouldn't have overreacted and taken it to heart," countered Ichigo, "Anyway, I'm sorry, Kashino." She bit the inside of her cheek nervously as she waited for him to answer. His poker face was perfect and gave nothing away which actually made Ichigo feel even more nervous. Would he hate her or still be hurt?

* * *

><p>Kashino looked at Ichigo who looked plain nervous. Obviously, she'd never had to put on a poker face in her life unlike him with his complicated relationships with his family. He remembered he'd continually had to look brave in front of his ever-criticising parents about his career choice when really he felt hurt inside that his parents couldn't see how much he loved sweets. Hanabusa, Andoh, Chocolat and Ichigo could see it; why couldn't his parents?<p>

Also, she'd said 'I knew the chocolate must have been done by you and Chocolat' which meant she was complimenting his skills, right? It made Kashino feel strangely happy inside, different from when anyone else complimented him. Sure Andoh and Hanabusa's praise made him happy but when Ichigo praised his work, he felt even better for some reason; joyous, delighted. He couldn't understand why.

_I'll just think about this later, _Kashino decided. He smiled at Ichigo, "It's OK. And I should apologise too. I don't know what happened back there for me to say that…"

Actually Kashino thought the reason for his outburst was Johnny. He had a natural cockiness which made Kashino annoyed at him but obviously he couldn't point that out if he didn't want Ichigo to start lecturing him again about behaving.

"No, it's fine," said Ichigo when he apologised. She seemed happier now that the whole thing was over and done with. She put down her pencil next to her and lifted up her sketch for him to see, "What do you think?"

Kashino looked at the rough sketch of a rustic looking shop but welcoming and not a bad design, he happened to notice.

"I was thinking of having a rustic, family-friendly store. If you have a successful shop, families visit it, right? I want it to be welcoming and simple so people can feel at-home there like my grandmother's shop."

Kashino smiled as he considered that. Of course, families would visit a successful shop. Everything she said made sense and it wasn't a bad idea. He pointed to the entrance of the shop, "Maybe you should have a simpler entrance than steps. It would be helpful to people who have disabilities. You want everyone to be able to enjoy your sweets, right?"

"I see," said Ichigo, brightening at the idea, "That's a good idea! I'll add that in; arigato Kashino! Have you finished your design?"

"Yeah," he said, holding up his book, showing a well-drawn, detailed design, "I want to have a great, high class successful store which frankly will be a chocolatier. We'll have quality ingredients, skilled patissiers and patissieres to make use of them and delicious sweets which will appeal to everyone."

"Is that the design?" asked Ichigo, looking at my more complicated, detailed design.

"Yeah," I said.

"I think maybe you should tone down the details a bit," said Ichigo, "With high-class sweets with an even more high-class interior, I think some people might feel out of place or have trouble feeling comfortable. I think a simpler, yet non-boring design would make the customers feel more comfortable."

Kashino nodded, considering this. The happiness of the customers was most important and a shop where the sweets were delicious _and _the customers felt happy and at-home would keep them coming back and pleased.

"I got it," said Kashino, "So I guess we both have to change our designs a bit." The sky was darkening now; the sun nearly disappeared on the horizon. Stars were beginning to appear in the darkening sky. They had to hurry and finish up their sketches before the light disappeared completely.

As Kashino reached for his pencil, Ichigo did too. Their hands brushed each other and Kashino made a surprised sound unintentionally. He felt something when he touched her, like a lightning bolt travelling up his arm and through his body. He'd felt this plenty of times before: when he had to save her from diving into a pond after Hanabusa's rose water, when the oven in Paris exploded and he caught her, at Notre Dame two years ago, when he caught her today after she tripped, holding her hand when they walked to Marie's Garden. Even when she slapped his face in her sleep when they were at that patissier's shop in Paris. The feeling never got old and it only made Kashino long to hold her again.

"Did you feel that?" asked Kashino.

"Y-Yeah…" said Ichigo, looking at her arm curiously, "Like… an electrocution."

Curiously, they both stretched out their hands and held each other's. The electrocution spread over Kashino like a bushfire and made his adrenaline levels rise higher than he thought possible. His heartbeat started thumping until he was sure it could be heard. Hesitantly, he moved his hand so he could intertwine their fingers. Just as he did, a sudden, high voice yelled, "Makoto-kun!"

Kashino felt his whole body tense at her voice. Normally, he wouldn't gone half crazy by now and start shaking or something like that but he didn't. Her hand in his was the only thing making him feel better. He wanted to hold onto her forever but too soon, she slipped her hand out of his. He looked into her eyes. She was blushing and looked embarrassed. She mouthed words so that Miya wouldn't have heard, _gomenasai_.

_It's OK, _Kashino mouthed back before the devil's arms circled around his torso, "Makoto-kun!"

"!" said Kashino turning around to see Miya's red hair pressed up against his back, "OI! Let go! What are you doing here, Koshiro-sempai?" he demanded. _WHY? _His mind screamed, _WHY does she have to be everywhere?_

"Well, two little birds," she looked at her ever-loyal servants, Satou and Shiotani, "told me you were here, _darling_~ Although I hadn't planned on her being here," she pouted slightly as she looked at Ichigo there, blinking.

"Would you just—" said Kashino, pulling himself out of her grip, "Look, Amano and I are discussing shop ideas so if you could just stay away," _forever, _his mind thought, "until we finish, I'd appreciate it."

"Demo, Miya wants to help Makoto-kun…" said Miya, pouting, "I can give you some advice… And then perhaps you'd be so grateful, you'd be calling me 'my honey' _darling_~" she said, half dragging him away until she got to the fountain in the school.

Kashino sighed and stepped away from her, yanking his arm away, "I don't need your advice." He looked in the direction of the lake, "I just need hers." Ichigo's advice which were reasonable and didn't break off midway to talk about marriage or engagement.

"Yeah!" said Chocolat, flying before them, "He can do very well by himself without your help, Heiress!"

"Miss TNT has appeared," Marron observed.

"HUH?" said Chocolat aggressively.

"Oh, for—" said Miya, turning to Satou and Shiotani, "You two! Capture her!" she pointed at Chocolat.

"Um, capture what, mi' lady?" asked Satou, looking at the empty space since he could not see the Spirit.

"Her!" screamed Miya, "The Spirit floating right there!" She pointed again and again.

"Um…" said Shiotani, sweat-dropping, "Are you feeling all right, mi' lady?"

"Of course I am!" yelled Miya, "I can't believe you can't see her when she's right there!"

"Some humans without Spirits cannot see other Spirits," said Marron.

"Huh?" screamed Miya, "And why's that?"

Kashino took this opportunity to edge away slowly while the two servants looked baffled.

"I don't think mi' lady is feeling all right," whispered Satou since all they could see was Miya screaming at air.

"Yes," agreed Shiotani, "Perhaps we should take her to the doctor."

With that, the two servants grabbed the red-head and began running away, holding her.

"Make sure she gets better!" called Kashino before running away back to the lake.

"Hey, wait! Makoto-kun!" shouted Miya which Kashino ignored, _I hope Amano's still there…_

* * *

><p>Ichigo, after deciding Kashino wouldn't be coming back, sat down along the bank by herself and started sketching in an easier way to enter the shop for people with disabilities.<p>

_I wonder what Kashino does when he gets dragged away by Koshiro-san? _Thought Ichigo as she drew rough lines on the paper. The light had disappeared completely and it was now dark with the moon as the only source of light. It gleamed off the lake and made Ichigo feel calm and relaxed. She wondered what time it was since it was getting colder and made Ichigo shiver in her sleeveless, thin top. She hadn't planned on staying out too long so she hadn't brought along a jacket.

"Ichigo, are you cold?" asked Vanilla concernedly, flying down from the tree. She had decided to stay with Ichigo instead of following Chocolat. Even she knew better than to be near an erupting volcano.

"No," Ichigo lied but her body suggested otherwise as the temperature continued to drop faster than her body could adjust.

"You should probably go back soon," said Vanilla, "You can't catch a cold when we're about to open a shop."

_Maybe she's right, _thought Ichigo, closing her book and getting up. Kashino would most probably not come back now anyway. As she got up and started to walk towards the girls' dormitory block, a figure ran in her direction.

_Huh? Who— _thought Ichigo, before the figure grabbed her hand and ran ahead, leading her along, "Come on, Amano!"

"K-Kashino?" said Ichigo in shock as she ran to keep up with him, "W-Wait! What are you doing?" _He wouldn't usually hold my hand for no reason… _It was hard to focus with his hand clutching hers and volts of electricity shooting through her body at the rare touch.

"We still have to discuss ideas, right?" said Kashino, his cheek lifted, as if he were smiling, tugging her along.

"D-Demo, what about Koshiro-san?" cried Ichigo before a bright round light suddenly appeared in front of them.

"Ahhh!" screamed Vanilla, holding onto Ichigo's arm, "Ichigo, don't walk towards the light! You can't leave yet!"

"Nani?" asked Ichigo, feeling confused.

"It's a helicopter light," said Chocolat, rolling her eyes, "Not… what you were thinking."

Ichigo heard Kashino muttering darkly about helicopters before leading her towards the left, "Come on." He dove straight into the bushes where Ichigo had seen him pop up earlier that day. After a moment's hesitation, Ichigo crawled in after him. They peeked out of the bush leaves as the helicopter light circled a few times before the vehicle moved away.

"Was that Koshiro-san?" asked Ichigo.

"Who else?" said Kashino, getting up and picking leaves out of his hair, "Besides, let's go somewhere before she decides to come back."

"Okay," said Ichigo, standing up and following the blonde.

"By the way, why do you hate Koshiro-san so much?" asked Ichigo as she walked beside him, "Sure she made you drop your cake in the Grand Prix but she admires you and your sweets. I just don't see what's so bad about her."

Kashino sighed, "She just has an unhealthy infatuation with me and always bothers me and acts possessive and suffocates me and always appears at the wrong times and always annoys me with marriage even though I've rejected her about a hundred times and I thought we agreed her name was banned from conversation and she is the perfect example of why I hate girls."

"Eh?" said Ichigo, her eyes widening, "But there is one girl you like and I know who."

"EH?" Kashino nearly shouted and only just remembered to keep his voice down, "You _know_?"

"Sure," said Ichigo, "Well, it's obvious."

"HUH?" Chocolat hissed to Vanilla, "_She knew?_"

"I don't know!" said Vanilla, "Who ever knows what she's thinking!" She flew over to Ichigo, "A-Ano… who is it, Ichigo?" _Maybe I'd underestimated her…_

"Chocolat," answered Ichigo, smiling.

Everyone fell down anime-style.

"Nani?" asked Ichigo, oblivious as ever, "Was it something I said?"

"No," said Vanilla through clenched teeth as her mouth fought to blurt out the big surprise, _keep it in, girl, _"It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

"Oh, okay," said Ichigo, walking ahead. She tried to force the goose bumps on her skin not to show and to contain the shivers inside herself. But she did a pretty good job of concealing them for no one seemed to notice.

* * *

><p>Kashino followed Ichigo along and tried to make sense of what just happened. When Ichigo suddenly announced she knew a girl he liked, he had suddenly become very nervous. Why was that? It wasn't like it had been anything serious, of course Ichigo would say Chocolat. He should have picked that up when she said 'like' not 'love'.<p>

_But, I don't even love Amano, I don't… _thought Kashino, trying to believe it. He still wasn't even sure whether he did love her or not. He had weird feelings, electric shocks, fast heartbeats and blushes but was that normal? He hadn't gotten close to girls his entire life except for his family and even they weren't that close. Maybe these feelings were typical things for him to experience while being close to a girl for the first time. He had only had guy friends his whole life, his feelings and body signs just had to adjust to the feeling of having a friend that's a girl for the first time.

_Yeah, it's normal, _thought Kashino, but then his mind unintentionally came up with an objection, _but you've known her for two years and you still have these sorts of feelings and body signs. Your body would have adjusted by now so obviously something is wrong. _

Kashino felt frustrated and rubbed his head. All these thoughts and theories were giving him a headache. He looked up to see Ichigo standing there, waiting patiently for him, "Are you okay, Kashino?"

"Yeah," said Kashino, trying not to think about his issue with all girls except her (and Chocolat) and instead focussing on the shop. It seemed to work and he walked up to her without giving anything away.

As he walked up though, his arm brushed hers, the same electric shock going through him. He also felt something else. He took her arm to be sure and he was, "Are you cold? You have goose bumps."

"N-No…" she replied, sucking at lying and blushing at his touch.

Usually this'd be the time for lending the girl the jacket but Kashino didn't have a jacket either. Only he didn't feel the cold as much.

"Let's go inside then," said Kashino, thinking up the only other solution.

"No, we don't have to…" said Ichigo, taking her arm away.

"Why are you so hesitant to go inside?" asked Kashino, raising an eyebrow, "Ghosts?"

"That's not it," said Ichigo, "It's just… you mentioned you had your best ideas outside and we have to think up the best ideas we can for our shop. So I thought we'd be better off outside."

"So you thought I'd be better off getting a fantastic idea and you catching a cold?" said Kashino, going inside the cooking room, "Come on."

Ichigo seemed reluctant to come in but she did. It wasn't as warm as Kashino hoped and he didn't think Ichigo would feel much better.

_Really though… _thought Kashino as he walked ahead, _she would rather catch a cold or freeze outside in order for me to come up with some genius idea._

He stopped outside the cooking room doors. A door beside him was the room to change into the cooking uniform. He looked behind him to Ichigo who was openly shivering now that she knew he knew she was cold.

Kashino sighed before walking into the room beside him to change.


	7. Angel and Devil

Chapter Six: Angel and Devil

"Kashino, what are you doing?" asked Chocolat as she flew in after him. He took out his cooking uniform and unfolded it.

"Cooking," Kashino answered, "Anyway, can you ask Vanilla to go with you and go in my room? There should be a jacket on the end of my bed so can you two get that and bring that here?"

"You know, Kashino, despite everything, I have seen you naked before," said Chocolat, "Remember that time I flew in on you in the shower?"

"Don't bring that up now!" said Kashino, as he pulled his shirt off, "And I'm not trying to protect your innocence, I'm trying to prevent Amano from catching a cold."

_Aw… _thought Chocolat. She pouted slightly though and flew away, "Fine."

Once he finished changing, Kashino walked out where Ichigo was waiting.

"What are you doing?" asked Ichigo, as if the uniform didn't give it away already. _She's still cold, _noticed Kashino, eyeing her clutching her arms to warm herself. To anyone, it might have just looked like she was crossing her arms, but Kashino knew better.

"I'm making sweets," said Kashino, walking into the cooking room. Ichigo blinked before following him in. While he got out the necessary equipment he needed to make it, he started preparing, heating the stove and combining ingredients. Ichigo went and got out a stool to sit on, watching him work.

"What are you making?" asked Ichigo, "I thought you just usually came here to practice tempering."

"Yeah, I'll get to that too," said Kashino, as he stirred his mixture before pouring it into a cup. He got out a saucer and placed the cup on top of it before walking over to Ichigo, "Here." He handed her the cup.

"A-Arigato," said Ichigo, holding the cup with one hand and the saucer with the other. She sipped a bit.

The taste was incredible and strangely familiar. Ichigo, being one to never forget a sweet's good taste once she ate it, recognised it immediately.

"This hot chocolate…" said Ichigo, after she swallowed that first sip, "You made it for me when I first came here, right? Two years ago when we were both practising in this cooking room."

Kashino's eyes widened and he made a surprised sound but then smiled, "You don't forget anything, do you?" Then he blushed slightly and frowned, adding on the end, "But I guess that makes sense since your head's so empty it'll have more room for memories."

"O-OI!" yelled Ichigo, pouting. She turned away, pouting but then noticed Vanilla and Chocolat flying towards her, holding a jacket.

"Here, Ichigo," said Vanilla, as she and Chocolat draped the jacket around her shoulders.

"A-Arigato," smiled Ichigo, looking at Kashino, "And you too, Kashino." She leaned over and dragged a stool beside her, then looked up at Kashino, "Do you want to sit down?"

Kashino seemed reluctant but then sat down, "Thanks."

Ichigo smiled before noticing something; small goose bumps on Kashino's arm since he'd rolled his sleeves up to cook. He covered it up much better than she did though. She wouldn't have even noticed if his sleeves weren't rolled up. He didn't give away anything, any shivers or expressions that he's cold.

Ichigo lifted up part of the jacket and put it over Kashino. Then she lifted the cup to him, "Do you want some? It's still hot."

Kashino started blushing like a beetroot and once again, Ichigo failed to notice. He took the cup though since she offered and drank a bit.

"You should've told me you were cold," said Ichigo.

"You are one to talk," said Kashino.

Ichigo laughed slightly and got out her sketchbook, continuing to sketch in the easier entrance. Her mind was blurred though as she became a bit sleepy.

_It is 10pm, _thought Ichigo, looking at the clock in the cooking room. Usually she stayed up even later than that two years ago, reading, doing homework or practising for the Cake Grand Prix. But she'd gotten used to sleeping earlier in Paris that her sleeping pattern had changed.

She began losing her grip on her pencil as she began dozing off.

"You can go back to your room if you want, you know," said Kashino, noticing her dozing off.

"I don't want to…" replied Ichigo sluggishly, "It's warm here…"

She eventually dozed off as she laid her head on something to act as a pillow.

Kashino was nearly producing steam, his face was so hot. Her head was resting against his shoulder as she slept peacefully. He carefully took her pencil and sketchbook out of her hands and placed them on the bench next to them. Before he placed down the book, he looked at it curiously, then over at Ichigo. She was sleeping like a log.

Taking care to keep his shoulder she was resting her head on as still as possible, he flipped through her sketchbook. There was no one around and the two Sweet Spirits had fallen asleep on the bench already. He smiled at the sketches; the ones which had won them the Cake Grand Prix, a design for the birthday cake for Ringo that time and something else.

_Huh? _ He thought when a design caught his eye. He flipped to that page and saw the design for the Angel and Devil Fruit Roll she made for the time they had to make for one of the exams two years ago. Under the heading of Angel and Devil Fruit Roll, was a rough drawing of the cake as well as the concept and taste information under that.

_I never knew her concept for this cake… _thought Kashino, reading the information curiously:

_Concept: A cake to represent Kashino, both an angel and a devil._

"Eh?" said Kashino aloud. He stared at the concept and thought about it. He remembered Ichigo preparing for the exam, trying to do high-class, complex rolls to do better than him. Kashino felt a stab of regret at that. If he'd known the whole reason they won the Grand Prix and got to go to Paris was because of her, he probably wouldn't have pushed her buttons so much and caused her to collapse from exhaustion trying to make such a high-class roll. He probably did seem like a devil to her back then and probably even now.

_She also thought I was like an angel? _Thought Kashino. He had given her a hot chocolate and caught her when she fell and lent her books and such. Did he seem like an angel? He had just done those things because he was impressed by her determination to surpass him. He continued reading, curious.

_Taste: A bitter and sweet taste (also like Kashino)._

Kashino smiled. While he might have seemed like a devil to her when he really meant to support her, at least she saw some good in him back then.

_So that cake was actually based on me, huh? _Thought Kashino, smiling at Ichigo. He continued flipping through until he reached the last page which was written over with names.

'_Friends' _was the title. Kashino read through the names; _Rumi, Hanabusa, Andoh, Kashino…_

He paused. In comparison, their handwriting was on two different levels. All the names were written in English and were loopy and fancy. Kashino admired the neatness and the letters were written correctly.

"Kashino…" murmured Ichigo suddenly.

"!" flinched Kashino, slamming the book shut, _Damn it, she caught me! _

But then Ichigo just smiled in her sleep and didn't talk any more.

Once Kashino was sure he was off the hook, he put her book on the bench, looking at the design for the Angel and Devil Fruit Roll one more time and its concept.

He smiled as he looked at her peaceful sleeping face and moved his hand slightly so he could hold her hand as she slept, intertwining their fingers. Then he shuffled a bit closer so he could rest his cheek on the top of her head to sleep, _you're an angel to me as well, Amano Ichigo._

Ichigo blinked as the sudden rays of light intruded her eyes. She opened them quickly and immediately realised she'd fallen asleep last night.

On Kashino.

"Ahhh!" yelped Ichigo, jerking back as she realised her head was resting against his shoulder, at the same time yanking her hand out of his grip.

As Kashino fell down, since Ichigo suddenly moved, he woke up in time and grabbed the stool to steady himself before looking up, "Geez! What's the big idea?" he said, glaring.

"I-I-I-I-I-I f-f-fell a-a-a-asleep on y-y-y-y-you?" cried Ichigo, stammering endlessly, her face turning a deep crimson.

"What's the big noise first thing in the morning…?" asked Vanilla drowsily as she woke up.

"I fell asleep on you too so we're even," said Kashino, although he was blushing as well.

"Oh… really?" said Chocolat, obviously interested. Then she saw the time, "O-Oi! You two! You have to hurry and start classes! Then you have to go to Marie's Garden!"

"Y-Yeah!" said both teenagers.

As Kashino turned to leave, grabbing his jacket and sketchbook, Ichigo called after him, "Kashino!"

"What is it?" asked Kashino, turning around.

"Arigato, for last night," said Ichigo, smiling sincerely.

Kashino blushed again and turned away, "Whatever. It's nothing."

"Ichigo, you have to get going to classes as well," said Vanilla.

"Yeah," nodded Ichigo, grabbing her things and walking out.

"Ichigo!" said Rumi as the brunette entered their dorm room. She was brushing her hair, "Where were you? You disappeared last night! I gave up waiting for you and went to sleep."

"Gomen, gomen," apologised Ichigo, grabbing her uniform from the closet.

"So… are you going to tell me what you were doing?" asked Rumi, switching sides to brush her hair, "You didn't spend all night practising did you?"

"No, I was sketching ideas with Kashino and then we slept together in the cooking room."

"Eh?" said Rumi, dropping her hairbrush.

"No, Rumi, I think she means she fell asleep on him and vice-versa," said Orchard.

"O-Oh…" said Rumi, relaxing and picking up her brush, "That's good."

"Huh? Nani?" said Ichigo, oblivious of course.

_Later that day..._

As Kashino arrived in their to-be shop, everyone was there. He immediately nearly blushed at the sight of Ichigo but he just didn't feel like putting up with Johnny's comments today so he fought back the blush threatening to appear on his face. Luckily he'd had some practice at controlling his facial expressions and resumed his poker face.

"So… as you all know, we're discussing shop ideas today," said Kashino, taking a marker to write the ideas down, "Who wants to go first?"

"May I?" asked Lemon.

"Yeah, go ahead, Yamagishi-san," Kashino smiled.

"Well, I want to have an open café," said Lemon, showing her sketchbook, "There are plenty of them in Paris and they're really trendy and popular with lots of people."

"I see!" said Ichigo, having a kind word to say for anyone, "The open atmosphere would be popular with people and we can seat plenty of people."

"Yeah!" said Lemon, smiling at her sempai, "What about you, Ichigo-sempai?"

"Well, as for me I want a rustic, family-style sweet shop," smiled Ichigo, "If you're successful, you have to attract families, right? I want it to be welcoming for anyone from little kids to old people. And there's an entrance which is easier for disabled people to enter." She smiled specifically at Kashino for a moment once she said that.

Kashino smiled back and wrote the things down while Lemon complimented her idea. Johnny was staying quiet, much to Kashino's surprise. He'd thought Johnny would mention some comments but he stayed quiet with his eyes closed, lying on the couch.

"Well as for me, I frankly want to open a chocolatier," said Kashino, presenting his idea since Johnny didn't show any signs of presenting his, "A quality shop and ingredients with skilled people to make use of them. Then, our shop can be the start to a chain of professional shops that one day; people will visit to study and be impressed by. This is the type of sweets town I hope to create."

"It sounds interesting!" said Lemon encouragingly. _It's like a younger Ichigo, _thought Kashino.

"Yeah!" agreed Ichigo, smiling.

"All you guys' ideas are boring," stated Johnny, "It's like you have no imagination."

Kashino frowned. He understood constructive criticism since he mostly did give it to other people but that was plain insulting, "What great ideas do you have then? And sit up properly!" He was getting tired of Johnny's lazy-like approach to the shop. He could be polite and at least seem like he was interested in other people's ideas.

"I have the best idea, obviously," said Johnny, still resuming his lying down posture.

"SIT UP, JOHNNY!" ordered a voice suddenly. A purple flicker flew out of Johnny's pocket and hit him on the face.

Kashino held back the urge to laugh and looked surprised at the purple flying thing, _a Sweet Spirit?_

"No, no!" said Johnny, panicked, apparently not realising everyone had a Sweet Spirit, "I told you not to come out, Maize!"

"Relax!" said a small Spirit appearing. She had bright red eyes, light hair and wore an outfit of purple, a purple coat, pants and shoes, "They are already partnered with a Sweet Spirit."

"A SWEET SPIRIT!" cried Lemon and Ichigo in delight, rushing right up to the Spirit named Maize and fawning over her. Kashino smiled as Maize began doing traditional Japanese dogeza.

"Anyway, about my idea," said Johnny, clearing his throat, interrupting them. Kashino frowned. He was sure whatever idea Johnny came up with would be insane.

"I want to make…" said Johnny dramatically as he opened his sketchbook, turning over the book to show his design, "A Sweets Theme Park!"

Kashino would've fallen over anime-style if Johnny hadn't looked completely serious about his idea.

"We'll have fun rides, delicious sweets, all of which will attract visitors," explained Johnny excitedly, "There are lots of them in America and they're really popular especially with the tourists! It'll be a huge success!"

"Baka!" said Kashino, "What kind of idea is that? That will never work, obviously!"

"Eh? Why?" asked Johnny, "We'll attract families," he looked at Ichigo and winked, making Kashino's anger rise for some reason, "It'll have an open, cheerful atmosphere," he smiled at Lemon, "And we'll have quality sweets too," he spoke to Kashino, "Plus my idea of a theme park. It's a collaboration of everyone's ideas so why not?"

Kashino sighed. _Why can't this guy see the most obvious thing? And also what's with that Rick-like wink similarity? _

"We'll obviously not have enough money or land," said Kashino. He held back the urge to enunciate each syllable like Johnny was mentally handicapped.

"Oh, that?" said Johnny, "No problem! My cousin will take care of that!"

"Your cousin?" asked Lemon.

Suddenly, ironically enough, the door swung open, revealing a familiar face.

"MAKOTO-KUN!" shouted a voice as the door swung open. Ichigo looked up to see Miya. She walked into the shop, holding a large bouquet of flowers, "I'm so glad to find you here, _darling~ _Here," she shoved the bouquet in his face and grabbed his hand, leading him outside, "Come on!"

Ichigo smiled, "Aw… It was nice of Koshiro-san to give us flowers."

"I'm pretty sure they were just for Kashino…" said Lemon, sweat dropping, thinking, _Naïve!_

"Anyway, let's go outside," said Ichigo, walking out where Miya was pointing out many sweet arrangements to Kashino.

"Although I've never seen Kashino-sempai like this," said Lemon, looking at the scared/angry/trembling Kashino.

"Yeah… only when Koshiro-san is around," said Ichigo.

"Anyway! Why are you here?" demanded Kashino, getting a hold of himself, "'How'd you even know about this?"

"Why, my cousin told me of course!" smiled Miya.

"Cousin…?" said everyone.

"Johnny!" said Miya, smiling at her cousin.

"EH?" everyone cried.

"Well, anyway, I figured we could get the money and land via Miya," said Johnny, grinning, "Great plan, right?"

"I'll be glad to help out my cousin and of course you too, _darling~_" Miya hugged him, causing Kashino to nearly die right then. His soul floated out of him anime-style.

"Wow, you two really love each other," grinned Johnny, grabbing Kashino's soul and shoving it back into his body, but at the same time still not realising Kashino's feelings were exactly the opposite to what he was thinking, "You two are a couple are you?"

"That's not it!" said both Ichigo and Kashino at the same time.

"Eh?" said everyone else.

"I-I mean…" said Ichigo, blushing and looking away uncomfortably. Kashino did the same silently.

Johnny and Miya both blinked at their crushes, "Makoto-kun/Ichigo?"

"It's nothing," said both of them. Miya and Johnny relaxed and continued blabbering.

_Eh… _thought Lemon, observing them closely, _so that's how it is… Aw…_

_But seriously… _thought all the Spirits and Lemon, _there should be a limit to how dense a person can be…_

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter~ I thought it'd be interesting to write about Kashino's reaction when he realised he was the inspiration for one of Ichigo's sweets! I don't think he found out in the anime… I think. **

**Anyways, please review~**


	8. Acknowledge

Chapter Seven: Acknowledge

Ichigo entered the large square of Marie's Garden.

_I can't believe the stakes for this opening of our shops… _thought Ichigo as she walked towards her team's shop, remembering the announcement Henri-sensei had said about the shutting down of one shop a month, being replaced by another one. As she entered the shop, everyone was already there.

"So… you're here," said Kashino, looking at her, "Like we said yesterday, we're each running different shops and the one with the highest amount of sales gets to be leader. You're up first. So we're helping you set up and run it when you have lunch but the rest is up to you."

"H-Hai," said Ichigo.

_As they set up…_

"OK," said Kashino, setting down the menu stand. He looked at the Spirits, "We're counting on you to make the outside look nice."

"Yeah!" said the Spirits enthusiastically.

"Are you excited, Ichigo-sempai?" asked Lemon, beaming at her.

"A bit nervous," admitted Ichigo, "I don't have any experience with shops or anything."

"You'll be fine, Ichigo-sempai! Fighting!" said Lemon encouragingly. Ichigo smiled, "Thank you, Lemon-chan."

"That's right, Ichigo! Just do your best!" said Vanilla, smiling.

"You'll do fine, Amano," said Kashino. Ichigo made a surprised sound and turned to Kashino. She never expected Kashino to say anything. Of course she didn't think Kashino was really nasty to her or anything but she still never thought he would say anything either.

Ichigo blinked, _Kashino…_

"You have a natural way of communicating with people and making them feel welcome. You'll do great."

Ichigo smiled, "Kashino—"

"It is amazing how much people's personalities change," said Johnny, raising an eyebrow at Kashino and flipping a page in his book.

"Look who's talking," said Kashino, glaring at him.

_Oh no… _thought Ichigo.

"And anyway, instead of making frustrating comments, why don't you help us set up?" demanded Kashino.

"Sorry, but since this is Ichigo's shop, it should be her responsibility," said Johnny.

"You…" said Kashino, storming over. Johnny also stood up and they both glared at each other.

"W-Wait," said Ichigo, rushing over and putting her hands between the two of them to separate them, "It's really no big deal. Please don't fight!" The last thing the team needed was two of them having an argument right at the beginning of the day.

The two of them glared at each other for a few more seconds before turning away grumpily. Kashino stormed off, "I'll go attract customers" and Johnny turned to go inside, giving the book to Ichigo, "I'll go clean up the kitchen."

Ichigo sighed when the two were out of earshot. She liked them both and valued their friendship. She couldn't understand why neither of them could at least try to be friends.

"Don't worry, Ichigo-sempai," said Lemon, coming up, "They won't do anything terrible."

"I hope…" said Ichigo. She hoped she sounded positive.

"Anyway," said Vanilla, floating by Ichigo's head, "We have to change this exterior to get people to come. Come on!" she called to the other Spirits.

"Yeah!" said the Spirits.

"Prettyenu Change!" chanted the Spirits, joining their utensils together, "Deco-deco-decoration!"

A volley of sparkles came out and surrounded the house, transforming the exterior.

"Now, an outfit!" said Vanilla, waving her spoon. A card appeared and Ichigo stepped through it, appearing on the other side dressed in a blue dress.

"It's beautiful!" cried Ichigo, lifting the hems of the dress and spinning around once before stopping to look at the shop. It was perfect! Exactly as she envisioned it so it looked similar to her grandmother's.

"It's perfect!" Ichigo nearly shrieked, running forward and hugging the counter which appeared at the front of the shop. She turned towards the Spirits, "Thank you so much!"

"It's all right, Ichigo-chwan!" smiled Mint.

"Johnny!" cried Ichigo, running inside, "Look! It looks amazing— eh?" She looked at the still plain interior and Johnny cleaning up.

"The inside's still the same!" said Vanilla from the door.

"Huh?" said Johnny, dropping his cleaning equipment and running outside, "WOW! It looks amazing, Ichigo!"

"Doesn't it, Johnny?" said Maize, flying over, smiling, "I even added a bonus touch!" She paused dramatically, before gesturing her hand in the direction of the side of the shop, "A WELL!"

"A what?" said Ichigo, a knee-jerk reaction to the random well next to her shop.

"A well!" repeated Maize, clearly proud of herself, "You can't be rustic without a well, can you? That's why I added one! And then at night…" Maize began to tell a scary story with great glee.

"Ahhh!" screamed Ichigo, Mint and Vanilla when she finished, adding to the happiness of the little Spirit.

"HEY!" shouted Kashino above their screams. They turned around to see him standing there with a woman in tow, "We have our first customer." He looked pointedly at Ichigo.

"O-Oh," said Ichigo, remembering it was her responsibility to handle the customers. She smiled and led the woman to the counter, "Would you like to buy something?"

As the woman observed the sweets in the glass, Ichigo could practically feel the nerves she was feeling appear on her face, _this is my first real customer… Will she buy something? And Lemon and Kashino looking at me isn't helping either…_

She looked out of the corner of her eye to see Lemon and Kashino staring at her with her first customer. Lemon was smiling encouragingly and Kashino was just plain staring.

"Edo…" said the customer. Ichigo's attention immediately went back to her.

"I'll have one of these puddings and shortcake, please," said the customer.

"Hai!" said Ichigo, getting the sweets and placing them in a box before giving it to the customer. As the customer turned to leave, Ichigo sparked up some courage, "A-Ano…"

"Hm?" said the woman, turning around.

"T-Thank you for coming all the way out here and buying our sweets." She hesitated for a second before bowing, "Thank you so much!"

The woman seemed surprised but then smiled warmly, "It's okay. Who knew there was such an adorable little shop out here?" She began walking away.

Ichigo smiled at the thought of satisfying her first customer. She beamed at the woman as she left, "Thank you so much!"

The woman smiled, lifting her box slightly and walked away.

"Ah~ Vanilla, I did it!" said Ichigo, smiling happily, sitting down in one of the chairs, "I satisfied my first ever customer!"

"Yeah, Ichigo!" said Vanilla, sharing her partner's excitement.

"When are you going to come down from Cloud Nine from serving just one customer?" asked Kashino but he couldn't help but lift the corners of his mouth slightly at his teammate's happiness.

"Besides, you just sold two things," pointed out Johnny, holding up two fingers as if Ichigo didn't know how many two was.

"Demo, demo," said Ichigo, still in a dream-like state, not affected at all by her teammates' comments.

Kashino sighed, "You must be hungry. Go and get some food. Yamagishi and I will run the place until you get back."

"Yeah!" said Ichigo eagerly, "Thank you!"

"Of course the mention of eating sweets snaps her right out of it…" said Chocolat.

"Well, since you're hungry, here," said Johnny, holding out a sweet.

"Yay!" cheered Ichigo, taking the sweet, "Arigato, Johnny!" She ate a bit and could immediately identify it, "Is this a Chinese moon cake?"

"Yeah," said Johnny, "I got some when I went down the street to see some of the shops."

"Why are you aiding our rivals?" demanded Kashino, glaring at the American.

"Just checking out the competition," Johnny defended himself.

"Anyway, Ichigo, let's both go down the street together!" suggested Johnny, grinning, "We'll have lunch and I'll make sure she doesn't get lost of course," he looked at Kashino during the last part.

"Is that okay?" asked Ichigo eagerly. Lemon looked at Kashino who frowned, thinking.

Kashino wanted to say 'no' and tag along with them so Johnny couldn't pull any more 'Rick' moves on her but he couldn't since he couldn't leave Lemon here to manage everything by herself. Also he didn't want to seem like some possessive owner of Ichigo.

"Fine," he said. Ichigo smiled, "Arigato, Kashino, Lemon-chan!" Then she ran off with Johnny, their Spirits flying after them.

"Are you really okay letting them go, Kashino-sempai?" asked Lemon, looking at the blonde's frowning face, "I could find a way to manage everything and you can go along if you want."

Kashino glared. He didn't like being caught out caring for Ichigo. Not that he did, really… He was just concerned **as a friend **that something would happen to Ichigo whenever she was out of his sight. Something always happened to her, after all. And Johnny, reckless as he is, probably couldn't even take care of himself, let alone someone else. The only reason he hadn't gone running after them already was because the Sweet Spirits were with them. They were responsible… well, Maize at least, somewhat.

"If you have so much time, go attract customers!" said Kashino, drilling his fist into Lemon's head.

"Ahhh!" cried Lemon anime-style.

_After a while of serving customers…_

"SHE'S LATE!" shouted Kashino, "What the hell is Amano doing?"

"We haven't really sold a lot," said Lemon, looking at the mostly-filled glass space, "We haven't gotten many customers… I think I can manage by myself, Kashino-sempai. You can go and look for Ichigo-sempai and Johnny."

Kashino had to admit business was a bit slow. One person could manage everything and he trusted that Lemon would take good care of the shop. Besides, he was getting more and more stressed about Ichigo, which affected his work and numerous times Lemon had to come in and save him from dropping a cake or something similar. As much as he hated to admit it, he was being a burden to Lemon more than a helper.

"Okay," said Kashino, "But I'll be back soon once I find her."

"Okay," smiled Lemon, turning away from him to greet a customer.

"Come on, Chocolat," said Kashino, walking into the street.

"Yeah," said Chocolat, turning to Mint briefly, "Make sure Yamagishi doesn't overwork herself, okay?"

"Hai~" said Mint.

"Good," said Chocolat, flying after Kashino, "Wait up!"

As Kashino entered the street, he was immediately surprised by how many people there were. Dozens of people had come out to Marie's Garden and many world shops had opened as well. Just by looking at the sweets in the window displays, Kashino could name many countries: China, Spain, Italy, America…

When Kashino looked up, he saw he was approaching the American shop. Then, looking through the crowd, he saw the familiar blonde head of Johnny. Then, beside him, the brown head of Ichigo. Kashino let out a sigh of relief. So she hadn't gotten lost. When he was in earshot, he heard their conversation.

"I want to make a sweet that's original," he heard Johnny say, "One that has originated in America and that everyone will acknowledge it and know it has originated from my home-country."

"So you actually do think pretty seriously about things like your dreams!" said Ichigo happily, "I thought you were a complete flake!"

Kashino nearly burst out laughing at Ichigo's statement. But then, Chocolat shoved her tiny hands on his face and pushed him towards a wall of a shop so he'd be hidden from view.

"What the—? What are you doing?" asked Kashino quietly.

"Trust me, you have to eavesdrop sometimes," said Chocolat, pushing him behind the wall of a shop, "Just be quiet and listen!"

Kashino glared but listened in time to hear Johnny, "I don't jive with people like him who force his opinions on others! Why shouldn't we just get Miya to give us money to run the shop? This is why I wanted to work alone!"

Kashino knew he was referring to him and he was bringing up Miya's money again? He glared, about to march out and punch the American across the head but Chocolat blocked his way, shoving him back behind the wall, "Shh! Listen!"

"But…" said Ichigo. Kashino finally stopped struggling with Chocolat and listened to her, making a surprised sound. What would Ichigo say? He stood and listened carefully much to Chocolat's relief.

"I know that Kashino can be sadistic, easily angered, rude and generally just a pill…" said Ichigo. A vein popped on Kashino's head but a glare from Chocolat made him stay put.

_Amano… I swear… _thought Kashino threateningly, a million other veins appearing.

"But he's a really great guy!" said Ichigo.

"!" said Kashino, his veins all disappearing. He could feel the blush threatening to appear on his cheeks as he heard Ichigo's words.

"I can understand Kashino's wish for us to make our own sweets shop with our own power. He comes from a strict family of doctors which he's the oldest son. He went against the will of his family to enter St Marie and that's why he doesn't want to rely on anyone else for our shop. Kashino has decided deep down that he wants to run the shop with his own power. He can seem awkward at times but I really admire that part of him."

"Amano…" murmured Kashino aloud. He never thought that Ichigo would ever say something like that, let alone remember his family situation.

"She's…" said Chocolat, surprised as well.

"Hey, Ichigo, when you talk about Makoto, your eyes start to shine," said Johnny. He sounded rather sad, something that Ichigo would never pick up Kashino was sure.

"It would make me very happy if you talked about me in that way, too," said Johnny.

"I-I…" said Ichigo. Kashino could imagine her blushing, the faint colour of red on her cheeks.

Just then, he heard her scream, "O-OI! Johnny!" Kashino immediately turned towards the direction of her, a reflex action and saw Johnny had picked up Ichigo bridal-style. A weird sensation sparked in him, anger and something else he couldn't quite figure out.

Chocolat was scanning Kashino's expression. She had taught herself to read his expressions from being with him so long but he looked angry and something else this time.

_Is Kashino… jealous? _Thought Chocolat, raising her eyebrows at the thought.

"Come on, let's go before that sadist blows up!" said Johnny cheerily, running past the wall Kashino was hiding behind, Ichigo screaming all the time. When he was sure they had passed, he came out of his hiding spot, "Who're you calling a sadist, huh?"

"How rude!" Chocolat exclaimed at his side, "Demo… those things Ichigo said…" She looked over and saw Kashino blushing slightly. He stared at the ground and seemed quite happy.

"Come on, Kashino," said Chocolat, floating ahead, "People will think it's weird seeing a random teenager standing there staring at the ground."

Kashino started walking forward slowly, "It doesn't mean anything…" Chocolat didn't know whether he was talking to her or himself but she nearly let out a frustrated sigh. EVERYTHING, from her blushing, to her words, to her caring for him to such an extent all suggested one thing! She'd thought someone like Kashino could figure it out already.

"Let's just… get back to the store…" said Chocolat in a strained voice, a vein popping on her head.

"What's the matter with you?" asked Kashino.

"Really, Kashino?" cried Chocolat, her calm personality splintering and close to snapping completely, "You **honestly **don't realise anything?"

"Nani?" said Kashino with a completely straight face.

"My feminine senses tell me Johnny is interested in Ichigo," said Chocolat, circling around his head, "What if their friendship turns into something else, huh? What if they start to grow closer? Then what will you do?"

"I don't know," said Kashino, walking ahead, "What if they do get closer? Why should I care?"

"You **should **care because what if Johnny steals Ichigo away from you, huh? What will you do then?"

"I said I wouldn't care, Chocolat," said Kashino, "Amano will choose what she will and besides, I don't even feel anything for her."

"Then why, Kashino?" said Chocolat sharply, flying in front of his face. He stopped walking and looked at her.

"Why do you worry for her more than anyone else?" asked Chocolat.

"Because she attracts trouble like a magnet," answered Kashino bluntly.

"Why did you lend her your jacket, hold her hand at Notre Dame, blush because of her or sleep on her, huh?" demanded Chocolat, "Would you do all that for anyone else other than her?"

Kashino flinched, "That's…" They were nearing the shop now. Johnny yelled something at him but he couldn't care less about that. He also saw Ichigo talking happily and laughing with Lemon behind the glass counter. When she saw Kashino, she waved and smiled at him.

"Instead of holding back your feelings, why don't you just acknowledge them?" said Chocolat, "You feel these things for a reason." With that, she flew off into the shop to join the other Sweet Spirits.

Kashino was left flabbergasted. He never knew Chocolat was capable of making such a long speech when she usually went straight to the point with one sentence. He walked towards the shop, greeting Lemon and Ichigo. As he walked past them, he looked back slightly to see Ichigo's side-profile of her smiling. Looking at her now after Chocolat's speech, he wondered.

_What are my true feelings for Amano? _


	9. Hikari

Chapter Eight: Hikari

**NOTE: I've made a time skip here and this is set after the Sweets Kingdom episodes and just before Tennouji's shop in New York episodes.**

* * *

><p>Kashino yawned as he arrived back in his dorm room. He'd just come back from the Sweets Kingdom and helping the three Jerks. Chocolat floated behind him, about to open her mouth about him lending his bear costume to Ichigo but decided to keep it shut. Kashino had seemed distracted during the trip so he either must have been thinking about her speech or his sweets test the next morning. If he was thinking about her speech, he would probably realise the signs himself soon.<p>

"You should get to sleep, Kashino," said Chocolat, "You have that test tomorrow and we also have to manage the shop."

Kashino nodded and went into the bathroom to change and do the usual stuff before bed.

As he lied down and turned off the light, he sighed, staring up at the blank ceiling in the dark, _I still haven't found out anything new…_

_The next day, during last class…_

As Kashino entered the kitchen, he went to his cooking station, deep in thought the entire day. _What did Chocolat mean? True feelings… Obviously I can't ask about it… _

"Kashino," said Chocolat, snapping him back to attention, "The teacher's speaking about the assignment now. Pay attention!"

"Huh? Yeah…" said Kashino, tuning into the teacher.

"You will be making a cake of your choice with the subject of 'love'," said the teacher. Murmurs started all around, including Kashino to Chocolat, "It's just like the Grand Prix all over again…"

"Relax," said Chocolat, "It can't be harder than that time."

"All right! Pay attention!" ordered the teacher, which everyone promptly did, "I've noticed from previous experience that many of you have no idea what to do with the theme of 'love'. The feeling has to be there in order for it to work and most of the time, I don't get that feeling. So, I want you all to sketch one particular person or animal or whatever who or that you love. Think about the love you feel for that person, animal or thing and incorporate that into your cake. I'll give you a few minutes sketching time and then we get cooking! You may go outside for this and I'll call you all back in when it's time."

"Hai!" said the students.

"…" Kashino was silent as everyone began murmuring and filing out. Miya happily ran out, shouting her design was definitely Makoto-kun of course.

"What's wrong?" asked Chocolat as Kashino began walking towards the doors leading outside, holding his sketchbook.

"I don't have that powerful love the teacher's describing for anyone," said Kashino, "I am so screwed."

"You have got to be kidding me…" said Chocolat under her breath, "There is _someone_, Kashino, you just have to think of her. What are you using in it, anyway? Maybe some _ichigos _(strawberries), perhaps?"

Kashino shrugged, not picking up the hint, "I don't know. It depends on who I sketch, I suppose." He walked out into the sunshine to be ambushed by none other than Koshiro Miya.

"DARLING!" cried Miya, jumping onto him, "I haven't seen you for so long because you're so busy with your shop with _Amano Ichigo_,"she scowled the name and changed back to the happy, unicorns, pot-of-gold-at-the-end-of-the-rainbow Miya immediately after, "Of course I am drawing you for my sweets inspiration," babbled Miya, twirling her hair around her finger flirtatiously, "And I am Makoto-kun's inspiration, right?"

"No and don't bother me," replied Kashino, glaring at her and stepping around her again. Quickly, he walked away and sat under the shade of a large tree near the door to the cooking room, pencil in hand and racking his brain for an idea.

As the minutes ticked by and Chocolat almost ripped her hair out in frustration, she finally sighed and said, "I still like the idea of _ichigos _in your cake. You love _ichigos_, right?"

"Yeah, I'll have it in my cake," said Kashino, obviously distracted, still thinking.

_Oh, for the love of… _Chocolat began cursing, "What about Ichigo?"

The pencil dropped from Kashino's hand, "Amano?"

"Why not?" shrugged Chocolat, trying to be casual, "I'd say she's your best option right now, unless you want to dedicate the cake to that Heiress."

… Kashino immediately began sketching, growing more confident of the idea as time passed, _I think I can really make this work…_

"Uh, Kashino?" said Chocolat.

"Nani?" said Kashino, turning to face her, still sketching.

"What…?" said Chocolat, gesturing to the sketch he was drawing. Kashino looked down and realised what he was even drawing. Beside Ichigo's sketch which was well done, he was drawing detailed, huge wings, unfurling from her body. Her hair waved down her back with a few locks of hair at the front. Her eyes were large and friendly, she was smiling and she wore a floaty dress. The exact depiction of an angel.

"Hm…" said Chocolat curiously, looking at the drawing, "That's how you see her, huh?"

Kashino stiffened and blushed a deep red, "U-Urusai!" *Shut up for those who don't know. :)

* * *

><p>Ichigo was surprised to find Johnny in class for once as she entered the cooking room. Rumi and Lemon waved and Johnny of course ran over, sweeping her up and spinning her around, "Ichigo! Good morning!"<p>

"A-Ano…" said Rumi, sweat-dropping.

"Don't ask, apparently it's normal for Johnny," murmured Lemon.

"It's… new," said Orchard hesitantly.

* * *

><p>Kashino suddenly felt a bad feeling, angry for some reason.<p>

_Stress, _he decided, _because we're running the shop. Yeah, stress…_

* * *

><p>"Finally, that sadist is not here to stop me!" said Johnny happily, "It's the only reason I came! I can spend time with you without that guy around! Great, huh? Hey, Rumi—"<p>

Rumi stepped back one step, "Don't get any ideas." She stuck out her hand instead, "Nice to meet you, though."

"Yeah, OK, we'll do that!" said Johnny, grinning. Nothing could damage his mood when he was with Ichigo, apparently.

"Attention!" ordered Ameya-sensei, bringing the class to order. Even Johnny piped down and payed attention.

"We're going to be making chocolate today," announced Ameya-sensei, "You will be rated based on the technique, uniqueness, presentation and taste of the chocolate. Please get to work."

"Huh," said Johnny, once the teacher stopped speaking, "That sucks. I was thinking it would be useful to have that sadist around this lesson after all."

"He taught me a few things about chocolate," said Ichigo brightly, smiling, "I think it'll be enough for us to pass."

"Yeah," agreed Lemon, "I studied a bit about chocolate enough to get bumped up a year."

"I only know the basics," admitted Rumi, sweat-dropping.

"Don't worry about it," assured Ichigo, "You can manage the baking process. What about you, Johnny?"

"Nothing much, only a couple of facts," said Johnny, laughing it off, "I'll help Rumi in the baking part I suppose and Ichigo and Yamagishi can do the chocolate parts and we'll all decorate."

"Yeah!" everyone agreed.

"Um… What kind of chocolate cake are you making?" asked Mint.

"She's right, there are many different types," said Orchard.

"We'll just make it up as we go along!" said Ichigo optimistically, brushing that thought out of her mind.

_INSTANT FAIL! _Everyone thought.

"We're rated based on uniqueness, right?" asked Ichigo.

"There's a fine line between unique and being a disaster," pointed out Vanilla.

"Well, we can have pink icing between the layers of cake and make little decorations out of dark chocolate so it'll balance the flavour and not making it overly sweet," suggested Lemon.

"That's great!" encouraged Rumi, smiling.

"Let's get started then," said Maize.

"Yeah!" everyone agreed.

* * *

><p>Kashino walked back into the kitchen once the teacher called them back in only to be glommed on by Miya, who shoved her sketchbook in his face, "Isn't it beautiful, Makoto-kun?" she cried, "Miya's going to make a wonderful cake for you, darling! Hehehe…"<p>

"Uh…" said Kashino, sweat-dropping at her laughing loudly and her two servants praising her for it for some unknown reason.

"Anyway, what has my darling drawn?" said Miya, grabbing his sketchbook and flipping to the page before Kashino could stop her.

"HUH?" shouted Miya, loudly enough the whole room stopped and turned around to stare at the two, "WHAT IS THIS? AMANO ICHIGO? AND WHAT'S WITH THE WINGS?"

"Amano Ichigo?" murmurs started up from the second years. Kashino began cursing in his head. Of course everyone would know who Ichigo was. She had been the leader of the winning group of the Cake Grand Prix two years ago, so of course she was well-known among the school.

"Can you be any louder?" said Kashino, glaring daggers and snatching his sketchbook back, "Don't just grab people's stuff." He kept glaring as he went back to his cooking station.

"All right, everyone! Attention!" yelled the teacher. The murmurs stopped.

"So, now you've hopefully got a clear idea of the 'love' I want you to display in your cake. You have the rest of this lesson to make your cake. Good luck and I'll look forward to taste your creation!"

"Hai!" everyone said. Kashino immediately got to work, combining ingredients for the base of the cake and placing it in the oven. Then he got started on the decoration.

"Your design is something you've never done much before," noted Chocolat, watching her partner work, "White chocolate, this time?"

"But hopefully it'll turn out good," said Kashino, continuing making the chocolate.

As he finished…

"All right, time's up!" called the teacher. Everyone put the final touches on their cakes and stepped back. Kashino looked at the cakes he could see. Most of them were average but good looking. Then he got to Miya's.

"There is such a thing as over-doing…" said Chocolat quietly as she caught sight of the cake herself. It looked more look a wedding cake with two layers and figures on the top as the bride and groom with faces Kashino assumed to be him and her.

Kashino groaned and nearly smacked his head on the counter if his cake wasn't sitting there.

"Pull yourself together!" cried Chocolat, hitting him on the head a few times. The teacher approached him last, "How did you go, Kashino?"

"Good," answered Kashino.

"Sugei!" cried the other students in amazement, looking at his cake, "Seriously? Is he really a year younger? No wonder he was part of the team that won the Grand Prix two years ago…"

"The presentation's beautiful," commented the teacher, taking a small section out and tasted it.

"!" the teacher's eyes widened and she dropped her fork onto the counter.

"Uh, are you OK—?" began Kashino.

The teacher smiled at Kashino, "You truly are a chocolate expert, Kashino. The cake was delicious. Tres bien. You really grasped the concept and it was perfectly done. I think I heard your sketch of the person you loved was Amano Ichigo?"

Kashino started blushing again. Even the teacher was after him!

"I just respect her," said Kashino, trying to remain calm, "She is talented and kind. Two years ago, for Valentine's Day, she made me and my friends chocolates to show her gratitude to us for teaching her about sweets. I thought I'd make her something to show my gratitude to her for helping me and our team countless times back then."

The teacher smiled as the other students began 'aw…'ing.

Just then, the bell rang loudly, signalling the end of last class. The students began filing out and Kashino followed him but the teacher stopped him, "Kashino. I think you should get Amano to taste your cake if you made it in gratitude for her." She handed him a box which she placed his cake into, "Here."

"A-Arigato…" said Kashino, holding his cake box. Then he walked out and got changed. Of course, he knew exactly where Ichigo would be.

_At the Salon de Marie…_

"Eh? Closed?" said Kashino reading the mini-sign on the door, _Due to creating new sweets to sell in the Salon de Marie, we will be temporarily closed. Thank you for your patience and we will open again soon~_

"Huh," said Kashino, sitting down under a tree near the Salon de Marie.

"Aren't you going to search for her?" asked Chocolat.

"I won't have to. She'll be here." He started the countdown in his head, _5,4, 3, 2, 1…_

* * *

><p>"VANILLA!" cried Ichigo, anime-style as she arrived at the Salon de Marie. She had finished making her cake which was a success but she wanted to eat sweets now more than anything. Especially chocolate since she just made a chocolate cake in last class.<p>

"Calm down, Ichigo!" said Vanilla, patting her head, "It'll be open in a few days."

"IT'S TOO LONG!" cried Ichigo, a waterfall falling down her face.

"It's amazing how you cry over that, yet the hardships in the shop don't faze you in the least," observed a voice.

"Kashino!" cried Ichigo, turning around to face him. He smiled at her and seemed quite amused.

"Well, since I feel sorry for you, here," said Kashino, handing Ichigo the box he was holding.

"I smell cake!" cried Ichigo, ecstatic with joy, taking the box, "Arigato, Kashino!"

"Just think of it as my thanks to you," said Kashino, looking away from her slightly, blushing.

"Thanks? For what?" asked Ichigo.

"Just… everything…" decided Kashino, "You helped me with my family and encouraged me whenever I didn't feel sure of myself. I'm really glad you stayed at St Marie Academy… if you didn't, none of this would have ever happened."

"Oh, that!" said Ichigo, "Don't worry! I'm just glad you felt better afterwards. Besides, I never would have left without upstaging you first."

"O-OI!" yelled Kashino.

"I'm kidding, kidding," laughed Ichigo, opening the box and her eyes widened, _Sugei…_

The cake was average sized but it was beautiful. The base was light in colour and covered in cream coloured icing on the top. Strawberries were arranged on the edge of the cake and fragments of light white chocolate were in the centre representing clouds. But that wasn't what caught her attention. Rising up from the cake, done perfectly, were two detailed white chocolate wings which curved in to form a heart. The chocolate was thin and shiny, almost see-through.

"It's amazing…" said Ichigo aloud.

"Thanks," said Kashino.

They both sat down beside each other under the tree in the shade. Vanilla and Chocolat grinned like mad scientists and drifted up into the branches of the tree to give them privacy but spy at the same time.

Ichigo put a bit of the cake in her mouth. The taste was incredible, unlike anything she'd ever tasted before. It was light, fluffy, moist and balanced in terms of taste. The chocolate was smooth and the whole thing melted in her mouth the minute she put it in there.

"Delicious!" yelled Ichigo suddenly, surprising Kashino before he started smiling at her actions. She smiled angelically at Kashino, "It's amazing! Do you have a name for it?"

"Hikari," answered Kashino.

"Light?" said Ichigo.

"Well, I used light flavours and colours because I wanted people to be happy and smile after eating this cake and are happy after being sad."

"It's delicious," said Ichigo, holding a chocolate wing and eating it, "I'll never forget this taste!"

"Have you ever heard of a fork?" questioned Kashino.

"I don't carry around forks with me all the time!" protested Ichigo, "I love it though. Arigato, Kashino." Then she pouted when she thought of something.

"What is it?" asked Kashino.

"Now I have another thing on my checklist to upstage you for…" said Ichigo, pouting.

Kashino cracked a smile and shook his head, "You've already upstaged me in more things you will ever know."

Ichigo's eyes widened but she tried to brush it off, "N-No… I haven't done a-anything that great."

"You changed people," said Kashino, "You inspired them and made them realise things they never had before. You changed our group, definitely. Everyone's benefitted from you."

"…" Ichigo couldn't really think of a reply to that. Instead she just mumbled what she hoped was 'thank you'.

Kashino got up, "Anyway, I have to get back to the dorm. You can keep that cake and try not to eat it too fast for God's sake."

He turned to leave but turned back around, "Don't worry about upstaging me. I just got the idea off your Angel and Devil roll. Nice concept by the way." Then he turned and left.

"My Angel and Devil roll…? Nice concept…?" said Ichigo as the pieces fit together slowly, "EH?" she yelled, "YOU LOOKED IN MY SKETCHBOOK?"

_Ah… poor Ichigo… Oh yeah! _Thought Vanilla, "Ichigo! You have to practice for your test tomorrow!"

"Eh? That was… tomorrow?" said Ichigo.

"Yeah," said Vanilla, "But don't worry. Once you finish the test, the next day you'll be jetting off to New York to Tennouji-san's shop!"

"That's right…" said Ichigo, "I should get preparing."

"Studying?" asked Vanilla hopefully. She didn't want her partner to fail her test after all!

"No! Packing an extra large bag to fit all those New York sweets in!"

"Get studying!" yelled Vanilla, "We want to succeed in the first test of the year, right?"

"H-Hai…" said Ichigo.

* * *

><p><strong>Poor Ichigo! XD<strong>

**Anyway, for those of you who are wondering about the summary, all will be revealed in the next chapter! Suspense, huh? :)**

**Review~!**


	10. Fever

Chapter Nine: Fever

Ichigo returned to her room, holding the box containing 'Hikari'.

"Ichigo!" greeted Rumi, "There you are! I was meant to tell you the Salon de Marie was closed today but… I kind of forgot, sorry."

"It's OK," replied Ichigo cheerfully, putting the cake box on her desk.

"Eh? What's that?" asked Orchard, flying over.

"_Someone _gave this to Ichigo," said Vanilla, smiling devilishly and winking knowingly at Rumi over Ichigo's head. Rumi mouth formed an 'o' shape and smiled knowingly back, laughing silently.

As Ichigo lifted the lid, she blushed and cried at Vanilla, "It's not what you're implying! It was a gift of thanks if you remember correctly!"

"Hm…" said Orchard, smiling at the chocolate cake inside, "Such great chocolate work and perfect presentation… It probably tastes brilliant as well. This is the work of Kashino Makoto, is it not?"

"Yep!" said Vanilla happily, "Except a wing is missing but it looked wonderful. And also, Ichigo, you have to study!" scolded Vanilla.

"Oh yeah, that exam tomorrow," said Rumi, speaking to Ichigo, "When you ran off to the Salon de Marie after class, Lemon, Johnny and I talked about what we would do for the exam. The theme is 'Colour' and we've decided to make a simple pale white sponge cake as the base with icing to look like clouds."

"White?" said Ichigo, scratching her head, "It doesn't seem… very colourful."

"That's not the point!" said Rumi excitedly, showing more designs from her sketchbook, "Inside the cake, we're going to have layers of marzipan in rainbow colours. So when you cut open the cake, instant colour! Like a rainbow bursting out from white clouds. Great idea, right?"

"It's wonderful!" encouraged Ichigo, "It sounds simple and easy to do in a reasonable amount of time."

"Yeah!" nodded Rumi, "We figured you and Lemon could work on the cake and Johnny and I could work with the rainbow marzipan. Whoever's free can make the icing, we decided. What do you think?"

"Yeah, I don't mind," Ichigo replied, "Has Lemon-chan come up with a cake base yet?"

"No," replied Rumi, "We were kind of hoping you'd come up with something."

"OK," nodded Ichigo, "Tell Lemon-chan I'll definitely have something prepared for tomorrow."

"We would probably finish with a couple minutes to spare if we all do our roles perfectly and everything. I'll tell her, don't worry."

"Good," smiled Ichigo, "I'm going to study for a while and then go down to the cooking room to practice so I don't mess up."

"I believe you won't but do whatever you want, I suppose," shrugged Rumi, lying down on her stomach on her bed, studying notes on marzipan.

"Well then, I'm going," said Ichigo, going outside.

"Bye!" said Orchard and Rumi.

Quickly walking to the cooking room, Ichigo changed out of her uniform and entered the room. It was empty. Kashino had not yet come down to practice.

"You'd think you made so many cakes so far, you wouldn't have to practice anymore," said Vanilla.

"You always have to practice," said Ichigo, cracking an egg and spilling the contents into a large bowl, "Every single day, I'm grateful for everything I've learnt and to everyone who has taught me those things, Grandma, the Sweet Princes, Ameya-sensei, Henri-sensei and you, Vanilla. So every day I have to hone my skills to make those people proud of me."

Vanilla let out a surprised sound and then grinned, looking mischievously, "Or perhaps you're only here because you don't want to study from a book?"

"!" said Ichigo, _she found out!_

"V-Vanilla!" said Ichigo, grabbing for her Sweet Spirit but she darted out of reach. Then she sighed and went back to her work, "I do enjoy actually making sweets rather than reading about them, but I did mean everything I said, too."

Suddenly, Ichigo caught movement in the corner of her eye and instinctively turned, "Who is it?"

After a few seconds, there was still no sound or reply. Ichigo walked towards one of the windows and opened it, looking around. She didn't see anyone. Brushing it off, she turned back around and continued working.

"Did you see anyone?"

"No," replied Ichigo, "Well, it was probably nothing. I have to stay here until I finish this."

Vanilla smiled. Outside, the sun begun to disappear and it began to turn dark, "OK, Ichigo, but don't stay too long."

"I won't," replied Ichigo.

Soon, a couple of cakes later, Ichigo tasted the cake she made, _perfect!_

It was finally just the right softness she wanted and moist and the kind that melted in your mouth the second it was in there.

_Finally, I did it… _thought Ichigo, looking at her sponge cake, _exactly like Kashino's, except pure white._

Smiling, she quietly began washing her utensils and plates and bowls she'd used. It was much later then she intended to stay but she knew if she didn't perfect her ideal cake, it'd bug her all night. Vanilla snoozed on the bench top, snoring quite loudly too.

Ichigo smiled at her Spirit and got a small tea-towel, using it as a blanket for Vanilla.

Then, slumping against the table, Ichigo finally realised how tired she was. Her eyes were already beginning to feel tired and her hands ached after mixing, pouring, measuring and generally working so long.

_It was… worth it though, _thought Ichigo, slowly drifting off to sleep.

* * *

><p>"Finished practising?" asked Chocolat, as Kashino changed back into his ordinary clothes, neatly folding his cooking clothes.<p>

"Yeah," said Kashino.

"You seemed happier after hearing Ichigo," noted Chocolat.

"U-Urusai!" said Kashino, his good mood gone, replaced by embarrassment.

_Flashback_

_Kashino was about to go into the cooking room when he noticed someone else was there. After a couple of seconds, he realised it was Ichigo. Immediately, a blush nearly covered his face and he struggled to compose himself enough to be able to face her. Instead, he leaned against the wall beside the door, breathing in and out slowly. Though he was able to clearly hear the conversation. _

"_You always have to practice," said Ichigo, "Every single day, I'm grateful for everything I've learnt and to everyone who has taught me those things, Grandma, the Sweet Princes…"_

_Kashino unintentionally made a surprised sound while calming himself as Ichigo continued speaking, thankfully not noticing. _

"…_Ameya-sensei, Henri-sensei and you, Vanilla. So every day I have to hone my skills to make those people proud of me."_

_Kashino smiled and stood up properly instead of leaning against the wall. He walked towards the door leading to the other cooking room._

"_Kashino?" said Chocolat._

"_We can't disturb them when they're practising, right?" said Kashino, still smiling as he went to practise in the other room instead._

_End Flashback_

"Anyway, I should head back to the dorm," said Kashino, clearing his throat and turning around. Chocolat snickered.

As they walked out of the building, Kashino shivered. It was sure cold tonight. Then he noticed something out of the corner of his eye, "Why's that window open?"

"Is that the room Ichigo's in?" said Chocolat, genuinely concerned.

Kashino quietly went to the window and looked inside. It was empty so he went inside.

"Be careful, Kashino," said Chocolat quietly, flying in after him, "Anyone could be here."

"And if something happens, I need you to fly away and warn somebody, got that?" whispered Kashino. Chocolat looked ready to protest but then nodded once.

He silently walked around the table and nearly gave a yelp of surprise as he nearly stepped on Ichigo, unconscious there.

"Amano! Oi!" said Kashino, forgetting he was supposed to be quiet. He was panicking as he shook her gently, "Wake up, Amano!"

"Hm…?" said Ichigo sleepily, waking up. Kashino let out a sigh of relief.

"Kashino?" said Ichigo, smiling slightly, "Ohayo…"

_Yep, definitely Ichigo, _thought Kashino, before glaring at her, "Don't 'ohayo' me, besides, it's not even morning yet! Did something happen? Why was the window open?"

Ichigo's eyes suddenly darted right open and started backing away, only she was already against the table so she couldn't really move anywhere, "K-Kashino?"

"Yes, you've said that already," said Kashino, "What happened?"

"I left the window open," said Ichigo more to herself than actually speaking to him, "Oh," she spoke to him again, "I saw something or someone and I looked out the window but I couldn't see anyone. Then I made some cakes and got exhausted a fell asleep."

"Geez!" said Kashino after falling down anime-style, "Here I was thinking some person came in and hurt you or something! Do you know how worried I was?"

"E-Eh?" said Ichigo, turning a bright red.

"I-I mean… That's… Is that your cake?" said Kashino, quickly changing the subject and standing up, looking at the snow-white sponge cake.

"Y-Yeah…" said Ichigo before she sneezed and shivered slightly, "I still feel tired…"

Kashino turned around and looked at her. She held her arms and looked tired, shivering. He eyed the open window, the fact that she was sleeping and the freezing temperature outside before widening his eyes.

"How long have you been asleep?" asked Kashino, looking at her again.

"Um, I don't know… A little over an hour…?" said Ichigo, glancing at the clock.

"Well then, it's no big surprise what's wrong with you, sleeping without so much as a blanket with an open window blowing cold air in! And it's freezing tonight, too." He stepped toward her and placed a hand on her head, nearly flinching away.

"You're burning," said Kashino, lifting his hand away, "You've got a fever."

"But… that exam tomorrow… I have to be there to help them!" said Ichigo.

Kashino was surprised even though he did half-expect her to say that. It was very Ichigo-like to always constantly worry about others even when she herself could barely stand up by herself.

"The best thing you can do right now is rest and hope the fever goes away tomorrow," said Kashino, _although I highly doubt it will, _"But if you're still sick tomorrow, it won't do you or your team much good if you're participating in the exam. As you are, with your added clumsiness, you'd either drop the cake, faint or generally end up hurting yourself and extending the period of time you won't be able to make sweets."

"But then we have to go to Tennouji-san's shop and I can't expect you, Johnny and Lemon to run the shop by yourselves!"

"We'll be fine and you'll be fine by the time we fly out to New York, don't worry. You'll just be sick tomorrow. Now go back to your dorm and go to sleep."

"OK," nodded Ichigo, going out, "Arigato na, Kashino."

"Amano," said Kashino.

"Yeah— ah!" said Ichigo, automatically catching the thing flying at her face. It was a jacket.

"Don't get any more sick then you already are," said Kashino.

Ichigo seemed surprised but then she smiled sweetly, "Thank you, Kashino."

* * *

><p>He just looked away and stayed silent but Ichigo could tell he wasn't angry. She smiled as she walked back into her room, slipping her arms into the jacket. It was warm and also smelt like chocolate somehow.<p>

"Ah… now I'm hungry and sick…" said Ichigo, arriving back at her dorm, shivering violently and feeling hollow in her stomach. But she went straight to bed and fell asleep quickly.

_The next morning…_

Ichigo opened her eyes and sat up quickly with high expectations. But the overwhelming tiredness and coldness despite being in her warm bed let her down. _I'm still sick… _thought Ichigo, miserable. She lay back down, her face clearly depressed.

"Don't feel too bad, Ichigo," said Rumi, once she found out Ichigo was sick. She placed a damp cloth on Ichigo's head and placed a cold glass of water next to her bed in case she was thirsty, "We'll be all right. You just focus on getting better. Then you can have as many New York sweets as you want." She smiled reassuringly and got up since she was kneeling next to the bed, "Anyway, now I have to get to the cooking room. Get well soon, OK?"

"Yeah," said Ichigo, smiling slightly, "Good luck."

"Take care of her well, Vanilla," said Orchard gently.

"Hai," said Vanilla.

With that, Rumi and Orchard both left.

As soon as Ichigo couldn't hear any footsteps, she sat up and tried to force her body to become healthy again.

"Ichigo, it won't do you much good to try and force it," lectured Vanilla, as if reading her mind. She flew around and tried to force Ichigo to lie back down again.

"Even so, I can't just sit here and do nothing," said Ichigo, "Lemon-chan won't be able to handle doing everything by herself in the limited time. We planned the time schedule around the four of us so it won't work with just three people. Besides, I haven't told Lemon-chan about the cake yet. She won't have any idea what to do."

"Yamagishi is a great patissiere. I'm sure she'll think of something."

"Demo… what if she doesn't and they fail the exam because of me?"

"Since when did you start thinking so negatively?" said Vanilla, "Don't worry, Ichigo!"

"You're right," said Ichigo, smiling, lying back down, "I think I'll just sleep for a while, OK? Could you go to Johnny and Lemon-chan as well and wish them luck for me?"

"OK!" said Vanilla eagerly, happy Ichigo was listening to her advice. She flew off and Ichigo waited about fifteen seconds before she hopped up and began walking out of the room. Her body protested but she wouldn't stop. _Sorry, Vanilla… but I can't let something possibly happen because of me. _Even as her body became tired quickly and she wanted nothing more than to go back to bed, she protested against the signs and quickly entered one of the cooking rooms, moving quickly to get out the equipment in time before the time on the test expired. It would have started already so Ichigo had to do everything quickly yet precisely to make it in time.

She added eggs and flour but her vision trembled and blurred. Ichigo paused for a second and rubbed her eyes, trying to clear her eyes of the blurry vision. Panting deeply, she tried to measure accurately but she felt as if she'd just run a whole marathon with the tiredness her body felt. She was also beginning to tremble a bit since the kitchen wasn't the warmest place to be in the early morning.

_Come on… _thought Ichigo, slapping her face gently to wake her up. She began focussing again but she knew it wouldn't last long so she began to do everything quickly.

"Yosh… I'm nearly done," smiled Ichigo as she began pouring the mixture into a baking pan and putting it in the oven. She turned it on the right temperature and set the time. Then she went and started to clean up the materials and tools. Suddenly, the tiredness snapped back to her like a rubber band. She let out a small sound of surprise and pressed her hand to her head. She was burning and even she could feel it.

_I am making it worse… _thought Ichigo but stubbornly kept scrubbing at the dishes and utensils, "Nearly… I just have to wait for the cake to bake… Then it'll be… fine…"

Barely keeping awake, Ichigo quietly put away the dishes and then walked to examine the cake, _I hope… it didn't explode… or… something… _She panted and leaned onto the table for support, _S-Sleepy…_

Then her mind went black as she collapsed on the floor.

* * *

><p>Kashino reached towards the cup to pour the water inside. He was making some sweets in class and needed some water. Before he touched it though, it cracked.<p>

"!" Kashino was surprised as the cup suddenly had a small crack in the side. He frowned, _that isn't a good sign…_

Though he wasn't the superstitious type, Kashino did think the crack meant something.

"Kashino, is something the matter?" asked the teacher, stopping at his bench when he saw him staring at his cup for no reason.

"No, nothing," said Kashino, shaking his head. He was being ridiculous. There was nothing that could possibly be that bad.

* * *

><p>"Ichigo, I'm back!" sang Vanilla as she flew back into the room, "Eh?" She looked around the empty room and then to the messy bed and the damp cloth carelessly thrown on the cover.<p>

"Hm…" thought Vanilla, _"Besides, I haven't told Lemon-chan about the cake yet… She won't have any idea what to do…"_

"She wouldn't…" said Vanilla, flying out towards the cooking rooms, "I have to tell Johnny, Lemon and Rumi!"

As Vanilla went into the room, the three and their Sweet Spirits immediately glanced up.

"Vanilla," said Lemon quietly when the Spirit came closer, "What are you doing here? Did Ichigo want to say something else?"

"No, she's gone!" said Vanilla.

"Ichigo-chwan's gone?" said Mint, obviously concerned. Johnny and Rumi looked up from their jobs, "Nani?" they both cried.

"I- I have a feeling where she might be and what she might be doing," said Vanilla sheepishly.

"Well, what are you doing here then?" said Johnny, "Get there right away and tell her to get back to bed!"

"Yeah!" said Vanilla, flying off. She entered the other cooking rooms until she finally found one empty one, "She's here!" she said, flying in. Sure enough, a cake was baking in the oven and there were still some ingredients such as a flour packet and butter container on the bench top.

"Ichigo?" called Vanilla quietly, flying around. Then she spotted her collapsed next to the bench, "Ichigo!" She flew to her side and shook her, "Ichigo! Ichigo, wake up!" She sighed and flew quickly to the adjoining room. In it, she looked around and found Chocolat flying above a certain blonde's head.

_Thank goodness, _thought Vanilla, flying over and called, "Chocolat!"

"Vanilla? What are you doing here?" demanded the Sweet Spirit, "Aren't you supposed to be taking care of that girl? God knows what she'd do unsupervised for one second…"

"'That girl'," said Vanilla, "Is collapsed in the kitchen joined to this one and she won't wake up!"

"Nani?" said Kashino, immediately snapped out of what he was doing, "Amano is—?"

Vanilla only gave one stiff nod, looking down guiltily.

Kashino glared frustrated before finally bolting towards the door towards the other kitchen.

"Kashino!" yelled the teacher as the other students turned to stare.

"Please excuse me! I'll be back!" shouted Kashino, dashing into the adjoining kitchen and kneeling next to the sleeping figure, "Amano! Oi, wake up!" He looked at Vanilla, "What happened?"

"I don't know, I wasn't here!" said Vanilla.

"Why would you leave her by herself?" demanded Chocolat who'd flew after them.

"Don't start blaming people!" said Kashino, "We have to make sure she's all right first."

"I guess…" said Chocolat.

"In any case, we'll take her to the infirmary," said Kashino, "I don't know whether she's just fainted or hit her head or something." He lightly felt her head. There didn't seem to be any major bump except for a bruise on the side of her head.

"OK, let's go," said Kashino, lifting her up, bridal style and running out.

"Yeah!" said the two Sweet Spirits, flying after him.

Kashino burst into the infirmary as if Ichigo were dying, "Sensei! Amano, Amano is—"

"Kashino?" cried the infirmary nurse. She stood up quickly and directed Kashino to put Ichigo in bed. She pressed her fingers to Ichigo's wrist and studied the steady rise and fall of her chest. She lightly probed along Ichigo's skull and looked up at Kashino, "There seems to be no major physical damage. She may have a bruise later but that seems to be the worst thing that'll happen to her. Her breathing is regular, her pulse is even and there's nothing more I can say."

"Will she wake up soon?" questioned Kashino, though he seemed relieved at the news.

"That depends on the person. It varies but she shouldn't sleep for very long."

"…" Kashino was hesitant before he finally asked the question, "Can I stay here?"

The nurse seemed surprised but she nodded, "All right. I'll write a note for your teacher. Just don't disturb her and make sure to let me know when she wakes up, all right?"

"Hai," nodded Kashino.

* * *

><p><em>Later that night and into next morning…<em>

Ichigo blinked once sleepily and then opened her eyes. She was aware of a dull throb in the side of her head. It was only very mild though so she didn't pay much attention to it. Instead she looked at her surroundings. It seemed to be in the infirmary of St Marie, she remembered. Looking around the room, she saw a blonde head resting on the side of her bed.

_Kashino Makoto, _she thought, _and the Sweets Spirit is Chocolat. Mine is Vanilla. _

When the pain in her head slowly went away, Ichigo sat up and the slight movement rustled the bed sheet slightly. Kashino blinked sleepily and then, seeing her face, he quickly sat up, "Amano!"

"Yeah?" she said, not sure what he was looking so alarmed about. It wasn't like something major had happened to her.

"Sensei!" called Kashino, "Amano's awake!"

The nurse came bustling in with a clipboard and pen which she fetched from behind her ear. She wore the normal white uniform and looked exactly as she did when Ichigo had fallen down the stairs and Kashino brought her in. The nurse dragged over her chair and sat down beside the bed. Then she started asking questions and writing and checking things off on her clipboard.

"How are you feeling?" she asked the most obvious question first.

"Fine," answered Ichigo, "I mean, my head kind of hurts but nothing too bad."

The nurse nodded, "Do you remember what happened to you?"

"Well, I fainted in the cooking room after attempting to bake a cake for an exam."

"Good," said the nurse approvingly, "Well, there seems to be no huge damage on you, except for a bit of a bump on the head. You should be fine to continue cooking but don't hesitate to come back if you have any more troubles later on."

"Right," nodded Ichigo. Suddenly, Rumi, Johnny and Lemon with their Spirits opened the door and rushed in, a nervous babble of 'is Ichigo/chan OK?"

"I'm fine," said Ichigo.

"There is nothing wrong," said the nurse when everyone looked at her for confirmation.

"Great!" smiled Lemon, "Now we can continue to enjoy making sweets together, Ichigo sempai!"

"Why?" said Ichigo.

"Why? Because that's what patissieres and patissiers do, we make sweets," said Johnny, laughing but there was an edge to it.

"I don't mean that," said Ichigo, "What's with the 'enjoy' bit? You don't have to enjoy making sweets, as long as they end up done well. No matter what."

"!" every single person was shocked by this. Even the nurse had heard enough about Ichigo to know she enjoyed making sweets more than anyone.

"NANI?" everyone shouted.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry for the late update! I had been busy writing chapters for other stories too, but I tried to write this chapter well without rushing it too quickly. <strong>

**Tell me what you think!**


	11. Hospital

Chapter Ten: Hospital

"What's everyone so surprised for?" asked Ichigo, her face perfectly stoic, a feat that would have been entirely impossible for the real Ichigo.

"W-What has happened to you?" demanded Rumi, looking shocked and hurt.

"Ichigo-sempai…" said Lemon.

_What has happened to Amano? _Thought Kashino, _it's definitely a person wearing a mask. This can't be her…_

"Nothing has happened. Why do you ask?" asked the masked person.

"Because our Ichigo loves sweets!" said Vanilla. Kashino could tell Vanilla was about to cry or explode, whichever came first. Kashino decided to step in before that happened.

"Whoever you are… You're not Amano," said Kashino. Then, unable to take any more of this person who was nothing like the Amano he knew, he sighed and walked out. Chocolat floated after him, "Kashino! Wait!"

Kashino walked into his room and slammed the door behind him. Then he sat down on the edge of his bed and pressed his fingers to his head, his eyes shut. The same line repeated again and again in his head, _'…What's with the 'enjoy' bit? You don't have to enjoy making sweets, as long as they end up done well. No matter what…'_

"She isn't physically hurt," said Chocolat, obviously trying to cheer him up, "I mean, she doesn't have a broken bone or sprained something."

"Maybe I would've preferred that," muttered Kashino.

_Chance! _Thought Chocolat, "Why do you miss her old self so badly?"

"Not her old self, it's her real self!" snapped Kashino before looking sad, "Sorry. I just… Well, I don't know why. I'm just completely used to her old self I suppose…" _I don't really feel like telling anyone my true feelings now… _

"ARGH!" said Chocolat aloud in frustration.

"What's your problem?" asked Kashino, looking up, surprised.

"Nothing," muttered Chocolat. Suddenly Johnny came in, "Oi, Makoto."

"KNOCK, JOHNNY!" scolded Maize before becoming nice again, "Hello."

"Hi," said Kashino, "Anyway, did the nurse say anything?"

"That's what I'm here about," said Johnny, "Rumi, Lemon and I still have to complete our exam and the school isn't really equipped to treat amnesia which is what we've concluded is Ichigo's problem. Her fever seemed to go away miraculously though."

"At much too big a price," said Kashino, "Are you hinting at something?"

"We need you to take her to your family's hospital," said Johnny, "Right now."

_Oh, dear God, no… _was Kashino's first thoughts but he pushed that aside and focussed on Ichigo. She needed a doctor's help. He stood up, "Fine."

Ichigo was waiting at the gates of the school. As he walked up, she frowned a cold glare which made Kashino flinch, "You better have a good reason why I have to go to the hospital for no reason at all."

"There is a reason. A big reason," said Kashino, "Only you don't know it yet."

The nurse was waiting there in her car as they approached. She reached over and opened the door for them, "Come on, get in. We have to be quick."

"Will the school be OK without a nurse?" asked Kashino.

"I have an assistant who's in charge right now," replied the nurse and inclined her head politely at Ichigo, "Hello, dear."

"Hi," said Ichigo. She sat down on the other side of the car so the middle seat separated Kashino and herself and put her seatbelt in place. Then she propped up an elbow and rested her chin on her hand, staring out the window. Kashino noticed Vanilla wasn't anywhere to be seen. He wondered if Ichigo had deliberately left her behind or Vanilla was just too upset. Now with this stranger of Ichigo, he could imagine her looking coldly at Vanilla and saying she was annoying or something like that and meaning it.

"Don't you know it's rude to stare at people?" asked Ichigo emotionlessly without turning around.

Kashino finally realised he was staring at her for a while now. Quickly he looked away, red colouring his face despite trying to hold it back. He would _not _look stupid in front of this stranger. He felt like being scolded by an adult and he was a little child. Frustrated but there was nothing he could do since the adult was right.

Trying to calm himself, he thought about other things such as his family. What would they think? Would they even _want _to treat this person, someone who had inspired their son to pursue his dreams of being a patissier even more when they were completely against the idea? Though they were doctors so they had to treat Ichigo and he was pretty sure they wouldn't make a scene in a professional workplace.

_I hope my sister will get assigned to treat her… _thought Kashino. He was on good terms (or as good as he was going to get anyway) with his sister; the whole reason he had been able to go to Paris at all was because of her signing the paper but he frowned. There were about a hundred doctors in the hospital. The chances of his sister getting to help them were slim.

As they pulled up in front of the hospital, Kashino got out and so did Ichigo. But the nurse stayed put, reading a message on her phone. Kashino looked at her questioningly.

"Sorry, Kashino, I have to go back to St Marie. Someone just got injured badly," said the nurse apologetically, "I'll head back but I'll be back to pick you two up, OK?"

"Hai," said Kashino. He watched as the car pulled away and walked ahead, calling to Ichigo, "Come on!" _To Hell._

* * *

><p>Ichigo was watching Kashino's expressions carefully. She remembered Kashino was very serious and stoic. She was a bit confused as to why he was now acting this way. But she shrugged and followed the chocolatier into the hospital. Ichigo remembered the similar scene when she had come here before, the time she fell down the stairs. The large waiting room was bustling with doctors and nurses and people dressed in starch white. The room was practically glowing with tidiness and everyone seemed to have something to do with not one person just standing idly by.<p>

As soon as one person spotted Kashino, they started whispering to the person next to them and many people discreetly stared at them, or more specifically, him, over the rims of their paperwork. Finally, someone had the brains to go and let his sister know.

"Makoto," said the doctor as she approached, her long, straight hair softly swishing after her. She wore a long white doctor's coat and her glasses. She had a strict yet gentle feel to her, just like the first time Ichigo had met her.

"Onee-san," said Kashino.

"It's rare to see you here," said Kashino's sister. She looked around the room, meeting the eyes of everyone, "Shouldn't you all get back to work?"

Slowly, one by one, everyone began working again. Then Kashino's sister turned back to him, "So, what's your reason for being here?"

"She has amnesia," said Kashino, gesturing to Ichigo.

"O-Oi!" protested Ichigo, "I don't have any such amnesia—!"

"You, what's your name?" asked the doctor, looking at me.

"Amano Ichigo and I don't—"

"What are sweets to you, Amano Ichigo?"

"Well, something to be done well and be perfect, no matter what. Anyway, I—"

"Yeah, there's definitely something wrong with her," concluded Kashino's sister, "Even I remember how much she loved making sweets, even if it was two years ago. She was a lot more cheerful then, too. Anyway, we have to go see Mother and Father."

"Wait, aren't you free? Why can't you just check her yourself?" asked Kashino.

"Mother and Father want to talk to you, since you came," she said after a moment's hesitation. Then she looked sheepish, "You know I can't refuse them."

Kashino made a 'tch' sound and walked ahead, calling to Ichigo to follow him.

_Complicated relationship, _thought Ichigo before walking after him and his sister walked after her.

Stepping inside a fairly large room, nearly every single thing was pure white. There were seats and a bed, as well as a large table with a computer on top of it. Sitting behind the desk was a stoic man and sitting on a chair beside the desk was a woman who Ichigo remembered from when she was rushed here that other time. Without a doubt, these were Kashino's parents.

_This will be interesting, _thought Ichigo, looking at the parents, then at the older sister and finally the youngest child.

* * *

><p>Kashino was careful not to look at his parents in the eye and sat down in one of the chairs available. No greetings were passed around and he already wanted to leave from the criticising eye of his parents.<p>

"So, amnesia, is it?" said his mother, the first to speak.

"Not the most serious case. Most of her memory is still intact but she has forgotten a few things such as her love for sweets."

"That's good," said Kashino's father, looking over at his son's face for a moment before looking back at the older sibling. Kashino frowned, knowing what his father was thinking. _You wouldn't mind if I lost my love for sweets either, right, Father?_

"Well, we'll run a couple of scans," said his mother, standing up, "Then we'll know the seriousness of this amnesia. Come with me please, Amano-san." She went out of the room.

Ichigo followed without a word.

_After the scans…_

"Well?" said Kashino's sister as her mother re-entered the room.

"The scan results should be here," said Kashino's mother as she clicked a couple of times on the computer, "I sent them, so…"

Frowning at the computer screen, Kashino's father closed his eyes and opened them a few minutes later to look at his son and Ichigo, "I'm sorry, Makoto, Amano-san."

"What's that supposed to mean?" demanded Kashino, immediately glaring at his father.

"The damage is permanent," said the doctor turning around the computer screen for him to see, "With results such as these, there is nothing we can do."

Of course looking at the scan, it was like looking at some foreign language for Kashino, having never studied how to be a doctor at all. He grit his teeth and pressed his fist to his head, standing up quickly, nearly knocking over his chair and stormed out of the room, "Fine. Thank you for your time. Let's go," he said to Ichigo. He didn't wait for her, walking out quickly. Then, once he got a fair distance away, slammed his fist to a wall, sending a spasm up his arm but he ignored it, "Damn it!"

"It's as they say, Kashino… We can't cure amnesia…" said Chocolat. She didn't know what to say. It was the truth after all, she couldn't deny that.

"I know but why?" said Kashino, a few tears finding their way to his eyes, "Of all people, why _her_? Why does _she _have to be struck down with amnesia? Now… I've lost the one person that I have and ever will love!"

Chocolat's, as well as his own, eyes widened after he said this. He was absolutely shocked at himself. It was as if his body was reacting on his own. But he'd had these thoughts as he found out Ichigo had amnesia. There was always that thought nagging at the back of his mind that the condition might be incurable. But he never thought it would actually be true. And now his true feelings were known.

Chocolat's eyes were widened for a few seconds until Kashino was beginning to think she'd lost all respect for him. Then she began smiling warmly.

"You've finally realised your own true feelings, Kashino," said Chocolat approvingly, "Good job."

"What? You've known all along?" yelled Kashino, "Why didn't you just tell me?"

"Like with sweets, Kashino, it's always best when you discover something yourself instead of someone telling you the recipe."

"I guess…" said Kashino. _I love Amano, huh? I guess I knew all along._

Kashino now noticed the obvious signs of his apparent affection for the girl. He wondered why he never discovered the signs earlier.

"OK, I thanked your parents for their time," said Ichigo, walking beside him, "Can we go now?"

"Y-Yeah," said Kashino. As he walked behind her, a great sorrow gnawed at him. He had discovered his feelings too late. Looking at Ichigo now, the person he'd fallen in love with was long gone.

And she would never be back again.

* * *

><p>Kashino's sister waited until Kashino and Ichigo had left the room. No doubt if she had voiced her concerns when they were still in the room, her parents would definitely blow up at Kashino and start nagging him to quit St Marie again.<p>

She eyed her parents suspiciously. She had seen the scan and knew her statement was correct.

"Father, Mother," said Kashino's sister, looking her parents directly in the eye, "Why did you lie?"


	12. New York

Chapter Eleven: New York!

"I can't believe the result of… you know," said Lemon, nodding at Ichigo who was sitting in the seats beside them, next to Johnny on the plane to New York. Since the amnesia attack, Ichigo always went on the defensive whenever someone implied something was wrong with her so they had to keep quiet about her condition around her.

"Are you sure we shouldn't have delayed this flight since Ichigo-sempai is feeling… well, not herself?" asked Lemon.

"It couldn't be helped," said Kashino, staring out the window, "The flight has been booked, Amano was physically well and we have to help Tennouji-san."

"I guess," shrugged Lemon, "Oh, and are you OK? You seemed completely shattered when you came back from the hospital."

Kashino stiffened but the lies naturally came out of his mouth. He was a pretty good liar. He had been lying to his parents about what he was doing (making sweets) instead of doing what he was supposed to (studying to be a doctor) since he was little.

"Let's see, I had to face my family, of which is enough to kill me right away, with the exception of my sister and Amano's condition is apparently incurable. She was my teammate, the glue that bind Hanabusa, Andoh, me and her together to win the Grand Prix. I owe so much to her former self. Of course I would be upset if that Amano has suddenly left and will never come back."

"Oh," said Lemon, sounding regretful, "I'm sorry."

Kashino just shrugged and kept staring out the window even though there wasn't much to look at. He had been feeling especially depressed since those words left his parents' mouths. They wouldn't lie about their work… would they? Kashino frowned, suddenly suspicious. He half-reached towards his phone but stopped himself, remembering since it was him calling, his parents probably wouldn't pick up anyway. They knew he was smart enough to have his suspicions. So they wouldn't be able to tell him what he has to do to get Ichigo's memory back. Besides, he didn't have any proof to back up his theory. Sure his parents were harsh on him but that was no valid reason for him to accuse them lying about his friend's condition. And anyway, he wasn't allowed to make phone calls on the plane.

_Maybe sis will tell me the truth…? _Kashino dared to think. But he was stuck on that one. She had to choose to betray her parents' trust to tell him or she could just choose to stay quiet and keep everyone from unleashing the Family World War III. So the odds weren't really in his favour that his sister would be willing to tell him anything even if she was suspicious as well.

"Kashino, are you OK?" asked Chocolat, "You've been quiet for a while."

"Huh?" said Kashino finally snapped out of his thoughts. He had been so concentrated; the plane had already begun to descend. It landed on the ground with a loud thump and slowly moved to a halt. As the seat-belt light flashed, everyone began getting up and retrieving their bags that could be put in the plane and filing out.

"Ne, Kashino-sempai?" asked Lemon as they got out first and waited for Johnny and Ichigo.

"Nani?" asked Kashino, hoping he didn't sound rude. It wasn't fair to take it out on Lemon after all.

Much to his relief, Lemon didn't seem to notice, "Will we be OK, helping Tennouji-san? Usually Ichigo-sempai would have a crazy, inventive yet successful idea which would save the whole problem. Would she be able to do that now, as she is?" she added the last bit quietly in case Ichigo came and overheard.

"You never know," said Kashino, "Amnesia's a funny thing. Even if she did lose her love for sweets, her… imagination could still be intact."

Lemon shrugged and nodded, "I guess so. But still, I miss her old self."

_We all do, especially as she might not return, _thought Kashino but as a sempai, he had to sound positive for Lemon's sake, "There's always that chance Amano might regain her memory. Miracles, you know."

"You believe in miracles?" asked Lemon, seeming interested.

Kashino smiled, despite the stranger façade, at Ichigo who was coming towards them, talking poker-faced with Johnny, "I didn't use to. I used to think everything was achieved by hard work. I still do, actually, but I think miracles happen too sometimes, maybe as a reward for the hard work and determination. Don't you think Amano is like… a living miracle?"

Lemon widened her eyes at the statement and Kashino immediately felt stupid for saying such a thing and in public, too in a crowded airport.

But then Lemon smiled and replied, "You're right. Ichigo-sempai is a miracle."

With that, Kashino relaxed, "Yeah."

"Hey, you two!" called Johnny, "Well, four," he looked at the Sweet Spirits, "We're going to leave without you if you don't hurry up!" Kashino and Lemon both looked up to see Johnny and Ichigo had passed them.

"Coming!" called back Lemon and hurrying ahead, "Hurry, Kashino-sempai!"

"Yeah," said Kashino, walking towards them. Chocolat floated around his head, "Kashino… Vanilla didn't come with us."

"I know," replied Kashino, "She wouldn't like Ichigo like this, obviously. This isn't the person Vanilla chose to be her partner."

"You're right," said Chocolat.

"…Ne, Chocolat?" asked Kashino.

"Nani?" asked Chocolat.

"Can Sweet Spirits… leave their partner and find a new one?"

"I doubt Vanilla will go to that extreme solution," said Chocolat.

"Just answer the question."

"Well, I guess it's possible," said Chocolat, "As long as they supply cards with sweets on them to the Queen, no matter which human they made it with, they will still be one step closer to being a Court Patissiere/Patissier so why not? But I doubt Vanilla will abandon Ichigo just for that."

"I'm just saying it's a possibility," said Kashino, hurrying ahead to catch up with the others.

* * *

><p>New York was much busier than Ichigo had thought. No matter where she looked, there seemed to be a bustling crowd everywhere. She made sure to stick close to the group and to Johnny who knew the area best.<p>

"This place seems like a great place for delicious sweets," she observed. Among all these shops, there had to be some good sweets shops tucked away somewhere, most of all Tennouji's shop. Ichigo recalled her delicious sweets, the high skill involved and the best ingredients as well as balancing each flavour perfectly.

"So, Tennouji-san's shop should be around here," said Lemon, looking at a map and pointing out a direction. Patisserie La Liberte soon came into view. Tennouji was standing outside in her uniform and seeming rather sad.

_It's different to what I expected, _thought Ichigo, glancing inside the shop as they approached. There were beautiful and delicious looking sweets on display outside but inside, the shop was empty. A bored-looking woman stood by, probably the waitress.

"Tennouji-san!" called Lemon.

"Good to see you again," added Kashino as they all approached.

"You guys," said Tennouji, turning towards them, "What are you—"

"Hi!" greeted Johnny loudly, sweeping up Tennouji, his signature move. Maize glared at him but then shrugged, "Johnny's signature move…"

"H-Hey!" even Tennouji was flustered, much to Ichigo's surprise, remembering the patissiere's cool and calm exterior, "Put me down!"

"How stupid," said Ichigo coldly, walking past both of them into the Patisserie La Liberte.

"A-Amano… san?" said Tennouji, sounding surprised.

"Ichigo!" cried a male voice. Ichigo looked up into the eyes of the patissier she met in Paris, Rick. He grinned at her and asked eagerly, "How have you been? It's been so long since I've seen you!"

"I've been fine," said Ichigo, looking at him emotionlessly, enough to make him recoil already.

"Ichigo…" said Rick, obviously dumbfounded. Ichigo frowned at him; _even Rick and Tennouji think something is wrong with me… But there isn't._

* * *

><p>"Is Amano-san OK?" asked Tennouji, obviously confused. Kashino obviously looked sad or uncomfortable because Tennouji just nodded and seemed to understand. Kashino was grateful she was smart enough to figure out what was going on on her own.<p>

Rick approached Kashino. Kashino immediately tensed but for once, Rick looked completely serious as he asked, "Ichigo isn't… herself."

"We've noticed," said Lemon, then adding quietly, "She has amnesia."

"Amnesia?" asked Rick, "How?"

"Hit on the head," answered Kashino and glared to tell him he didn't want to talk any more on the topic. He went past him and into the patisserie. After a pause, Rick and Lemon followed him.

"I'll give you guys a free sample of the sweets we serve here at Patisserie La Liberte," smiled Tennouji, although it seemed forced, Kashino thought with a frown. Disappearing for a second, Tennouji re-appeared, holding plates of cakes. She placed them in front of everyone and stood aside, "Please enjoy."

The waitress hovered near the entrance, obviously not interested in anything they were doing. She still seemed bored and uninterested. Kashino shrugged and ate a piece of cake. Immediately, a beautiful flavour ignited in his mouth but although it was delicious, it seemed to slowly die out and hit a rut in the flavour, although he couldn't quite put his finger on it. It was as if a firecracker's rope had begun to burn but it had suddenly blown out before the firecracker could really take off. The biggest flavour hadn't been revealed in the one bite Kashino ate.

_That's not like her to make such a fatal mistake to suppress the real flavour, _thought Kashino, looking at Tennouji. She was standing there, seeming calm and controlled but now that he looked at her more carefully, Kashino thought her eyes betrayed her and looked despaired and sad.

_And why is that? Maybe perhaps business is slow? But it would be unlike Tennouji to get so torn up over something like this. Or maybe she's just adjusting to the extra stress and pressure to run a shop. _

Kashino knew it was stressful enough having to run a shop with four people. He couldn't imagine the stress of having to run it with two plus an unco-operative looking waitress.

"Tennouji-san, maybe you want us to help with the shop—" began Kashino.

"Hey, there are some wonderful sweets shops around in New York," Tennouji suddenly butted in, "You could do some sightseeing since you've never been to New York before, right?"

"I've been here lots of times but anyway," said Johnny.

"Well, would you be so kind as to show them around town then?" said Tennouji, "I've got to prepare sweets and will be too busy to do much."

"Sure," shrugged Johnny.

As the topic shifted, Kashino looked around the room. While everyone was laughing and talking about sweets, no one seemed to notice the held-back flavour or Tennouji's sadness. But as his eyes rested on Ichigo, she was frowning like he was. With her extremely high skilled palate, Kashino wasn't surprised she noticed it. The question was whether she'd say something. As her old self, she had been too nice to criticise to Tennouji's face but perhaps now…

Kashino glanced at Tennouji. She looked upset enough without Ichigo's criticism. Although he did believe to criticise to help someone improve, he wanted to wait until Tennouji was at least in a better mood. Looking at her, he tried to tell her inaudibly to keep her mouth shut. Although she seemed to ignore him, she rolled her eyes and gave one small nod.

Kashino smiled slightly as he ate his cake (It _did _taste good, just not at its best). So this Ichigo actually _did _have some kindness left in her.

* * *

><p>Ichigo walked down the street with Kashino beside her. Somehow, it had ended up with the two of them together as Johnny and Lemon had other plans. Coincidentally enough. Though Ichigo didn't mind, so long as he didn't bring up <em>that<em>.

"So, don't you miss Vanilla?" asked Kashino as they sat on a bench in the park, eating their gelatos. Ichigo raised her eyebrows. That was unexpected but it didn't show on her perfect 'ice queen of no emotions' face.

"Hm… maybe, maybe not," said Ichigo dubiously, "She was always very high maintenance—"

"She was your _friend_," said Kashino, emphasised. Ichigo shrugged. It made no difference to her.

"Whether she was my friend or not doesn't matter," said Ichigo, "She's high maintenance, has a few screws loose to be honest…"

Kashino stood up abruptly and walked towards a sweet shop.

"Where are you going?" asked Ichigo.

"To get… more gelato," said Kashino, despite his gelato hardly eaten.

Ichigo frowned. _What is his problem?_

Shrugging, she continued to eat her sweet. It tasted delicious and then she started on a petite cake. Whatever her personality before, if any of the crap they were spouting about amnesia was true, her appetite hadn't changed one bit. Kashino returned, carrying a small cake similar to the one Ichigo was about to eat.

Ichigo decided to try and make conversation with him.

"And just when I thought America only made stupidly giant cakes," they both said.

Kashino seemed to visibly flinch, Ichigo thought. For some reason, this hurt him. Somehow. But she was happy he at least shared her feelings for something.

"But I suppose I was wrong," said Ichigo, eating a bit of cake.

"What do you taste?" asked Kashino.

"Strawberries, cream, some sugar and chocolate with a bit of butter. Why?" asked Ichigo as she concentrated on the taste.

"Oh," said Kashino, seeming disappointed, "OK."

* * *

><p>Kashino walked through the bustling crowds of New York. It was quite late, yet so many people were still out. It was a new experience for Kashino, being in the big city. He looked over to Ichigo, "Don't get lost."<p>

"What am I, a child?" snapped Ichigo. She went past him as Kashino was in shock. He was already in a shock from Ichigo. First, she said that thing about America. The normal Ichigo would have defiantly said every place would have wonderful sweets, not just giant cakes. Then she said just the common ingredients in the cake. The normal Ichigo would have also tasted more personal things like the love that was put in the sweet.

_I suppose if you lose your own love, you can't find others' _thought Kashino sadly. When he looked up, all he saw were crowds of people with Ichigo nowhere in sight.

"Chocolat, where'd she go?" hissed Kashino, hoping he didn't look too strange, talking to an invisible person in public. Though the bustling people seemed to busy to notice.

"Don't ask me!" said Chocolat back.

"Amano! Amano! Amano!" called Kashino walking around, shouting her name. He was getting worried. No matter how mature Ichigo became now. Robbers didn't care about that, or murderers…

"Amano!" shouted Kashino, more loudly.

* * *

><p><em>Baka Kashino, <em>thought Ichigo, _first he thinks there's something wrong with me and now he thinks I've turned into a child. _

Then she looked up and avoided a grab by someone. She looked at Johnny straight in the eye, "I could see you, you know. Not everyone has a flying purple person next to them."

"Maize!" scolded Johnny.

"It's not my fault!" cried Maize, "I had nothing to do since I couldn't grab Vanilla! So I just hovered around and…"

Suddenly a loud voice filled the whole area, "I. Love. Ma-Ko-To-Kun!"

_Koshiro Miya? _Thought Ichigo, remembering the red-haired rich girl. Quickly she ran back to where Kashino was.

"Ichigo!" yelled Johnny but she ignored him. Ichigo remembered how Miya loved Kashino so much, it was sickening.

_Wait, why would I care so much? _Thought Ichigo as she ran. She pushed that thought aside as she looked around for the blonde boy, _because I feel sorry for him. Yes, that's it. He literally is tortured every time he sees her. Yes, that's it._

As Ichigo turned around, she saw Kashino being strangled practically by Miya. She seemed delighted with herself, blabbering away in an annoying high-pitched voice and seeming to hold him tighter every second. Ichigo sighed, seeing the look on Kashino's face and walked over, "Hi."

"What the— Amano Ichigo?" cried Miya, shocked, then screaming, "JOHNNY!"

"I'm sorry, she saw me before I could grab her!" said Johnny, coming into view.

"You're in on it too?" shouted Kashino. Everyone seemed to forget they were still in public, though most people didn't seem to care.

"OK, firstly, you," said Ichigo to Miya, "Let go of him. His face is turning blue for crying out loud. And also, what's all this about with the grabbing and the advertising of your love and you appearing on the busy streets of New York in nothing more than a skimpy black dress? We have to get back to where we're staying now so if you can let us…"

"No! Who are you to order ME around?" demanded Miya, keeping a firm hold on her victim.

"Who are YOU to tell your own cousin to grab people in the middle of public, in the middle of a street, in the middle of a crowd where people can see you? Plus look as if you're mugging Kashino?"

Miya seemed to want to think of something but coming up blank. Letting out a frustrated sound, she let go of Kashino and muttered, "Since when did you start being so sarcastic?"

Ichigo ignored her and walked ahead, "Let's go."

"Sorry Miya," said Johnny again before following her. Kashino just walked ahead without looking back.

* * *

><p>"Thanks… I guess," said Kashino to Ichigo when they stopped at a crossing because of traffic. <em>Maybe there is a smidge of Ichigo in this person somewhere…<em>

"Be quiet, you have to learn to stick up for yourself in front of her too."

"What do you think I've been doing all this time?" said Kashino.

_OK, maybe not… But I should stop hoping. Ichigo will never be back anyway._

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry for the late update! Homework to do, assignments to finish and generally school stuff to do so… yeah. Sorry!<strong>

**Anyway, I'll try to update faster OK? :D**

**For the time being though, review!**


	13. Competition

Chapter Twelve: Competition

Kashino stepped through the gates leading to Marie's Garden. They had just come back from New York, only to be greeted with surprising news from Sully, Henri-sensei's assistant.

Kashino frowned when he thought about it.

_Flashback_

"_What are you saying?" demanded Kashino, "We won't be running those shops?"_

"_No, unfortunately," said Sully, smiling sadly, "You see… Chateau Seika wanted to open the shops instead."_

"_And Henri-sensei agreed to this?" said Ichigo. Kashino nearly flinched from the malice in her voice. Now that she was Stoic Ichigo, she seemed to have lost some of her interest and no longer worshipped the famous patissier, instead seeming to view him like Kashino did; respectively but not a huge fan._

"_Well, he couldn't turn down the request from such a prominent sponsor," said Sully._

_End Flashback_

_And of all people from Chateau Seika to run this shop it's… _thought Kashino.

"Koshiro-sempai, can you stop holding so tightly?" said Kashino irritably, annoyed he had just stepped off a plane and the redhead was there to squeeze his arm to death during the whole trip from the airport to Marie's Garden.

"Demo, demo, I'm nervous about the shop!" said Miya, smiling, "I want Makoto-kun to like it since it is an important place where a _very _important thing will happen!"

"Important—?" said Kashino, suddenly having a bad feeling, "What do you mean?"

"Oh, you'll see," said Miya, keeping a firm grip on his arm but releasing one hand to dial on a phone so at least some of the pressure was lifted and Kashino's circulation wouldn't cut off completely.

"Satou, Shiotani, lift the cover!" barked Miya into the phone.

"Hai, mi' lady!" came the reply. The few helicopters floating over a humongous object covered with a large cloth began to reveal it obediently. When the whole thing was unveiled, Kashino widened his eyes. He could feel both his teammates (Johnny had somehow gone missing somewhere) stiffen beside him. Even Ichigo as she was now felt a bit doubtful of their shop's future progress now.

"A- A castle?" spluttered out Lemon, her eyes wide at the large building, "You built a CASTLE as your sweets shop?"

"Well, why ever not?" said Miya, finally letting go of Kashino's arm and walking towards the 'shop', "It's not like I couldn't do it and whenever you set your mind to something, you do it, right? Come on, this is just the outside. The inside is even better."

"Hard to believe," said Ichigo quietly, "Though I'm not surprised you chose a castle as your exterior."

"You really are different from your old self," observed Miya, raising her eyebrows at her, "Your old self was much nicer. Anyway, come along now!"

Ichigo seemed to frown at the mention of her 'old self' but kept it in and followed the girl. Kashino breathed a sigh of relief and followed after them, Lemon at his side. Deciding to keep his head low and keep quiet with the hope Miya might forget to try and strangle his arm again, he did so. It wasn't until Lemon started to marvel at the castle did he look up.

And have the shock of his life.

The castle was gigantic up close. It towered over them, nearly blocking out the sun. The detailing was amazing and everything was perfectly built and flawless. Kashino wondered how much those men were getting paid to build such a thing on short notice.

But then he noticed who was standing in front of the main doors.

"Johnny?" said Kashino, surprised. The American was waiting, as if preparing to say a speech or something.

"Hey," said Johnny, "So, what do you think of this thing? Pretty cool, right?"

"Why should you care anyway?" said Ichigo, "You're working with us, aren't you?"

Kashino was frankly, quite scared. Ichigo was turning more and more unlike her old self.

"Well, actually you guys… As of today, I'll be working with Miya instead," admitted Johnny, "Sorry."

"Nani?" said Kashino, glaring at him. Despite everything, Kashino had begun to trust Johnny as a member of the team and had to admit he was a good patissier. Losing Johnny would make a big dent in their group's progress.

"Well, Miya's father helped me a lot in Japan," explained Johnny, "When he requested I help Miya with her shop, it's not like I could refuse."

"Putting that aside, why do you open up such a huge thing?" demanded Kashino, "It completely overshadows Main Street which is supposed to be the main attraction!"

"He's right!" supported Lemon, "Why would you go to such an extent to interfere with our shop?"

"Now, now, let's not forget it's not like I'm not allowed to do this," said Miya, "This was completely fine with Henri-sensei so you have no right to object. Anyway, come in and see the inside. Since we'll all be busy with our shops, you won't have another chance after this to see it."

Kashino looked at Lemon and Ichigo. Honestly, he wanted to run back to their shop and start prepping since they were extremely unprepared. On the other hand, it was a good chance to scope out the opponents. Also he wanted to see that there were no embarrassing 'Makoto' inspired stuff sitting around inside.

"Might as well, right?" said Lemon. Ichigo simply shrugged.

"Fine," said Kashino, walking up the stairs. Miya bounded eagerly to his side but he avoided her and continued walking. Johnny immediately sidled up next to Ichigo and started talking away even though she wasn't paying any attention to him.

"The main entrance!" announced Miya loudly, once all of them had entered and the doors closed, "Quite beautiful, don't you all think?"

"Amazing…" breathed Lemon, looking around. Kashino remained unimpressed. He _wasn't _going to start fawning over something built entirely by money alone. But he had to admit it was impressive…

"Like the Notre Dame in Paris, right?" said Ichigo calmly with no hints of being impressed whatsoever, unlike the old one.

"Yeah, that was the plan," said Johnny approvingly.

"What's with the church-like setting though? Will people really be eating sweets in here?" said Lemon, sweat-dropping.

"No, no!" said Johnny, "This is a room for marriage!"

"So now you host weddings?" said Chocolat, anime question marks appearing above her head.

"No, you idiot," said Marron, "This is where Miya and Kashino-san will—"

"Yes!" cut in Miya, seeming to want to announce the big news herself. She walked to the front of the room, Johnny next to her, so she could face the whole team at once. Then she said loudly, "I challenge Team Ichigo to a battle!"

"A food fight?" asked Mint.

"NO!" said Miya, "We are rivals from now on since we are running separate shops. So I decided to challenge your shop to see who can sell the most sweets or have the highest sales. There are prizes of course."

"What sort?" asked Chocolat suspiciously.

"Well, if Johnny and I were to win, which we will," said Miya, "Makoto-kun and I will wed in this very room!"

"WHAT?" yelled Kashino, pushing away her fantasy vision.

"AND Ichigo and I will date until we marry!" added Johnny proudly.

Ichigo narrowed her eyes and made an angry sound. Even Johnny wasn't brave enough to try and pick her up, providing he wanted to keep his arms.

"Hang on a minute!" said Kashino, "Don't go mixing our personal lives with this!"

"Well, the challenge is yours to accept but are you running away? That would be a shame," said Miya.

"Still!" said Lemon, "This sort of competition is ridiculous! And besides, what would we get if we won?"

Miya thought for a moment, "I never considered that but, if you were to win, I suppose Johnny and I would just give up on Makoto-kun and Amano. Is that all right, Johnny?"

"Yeah," shrugged Johnny, 100% confident.

"Even if you say that, the stakes are too high—" began Kashino.

"We'll accept the challenge," said Ichigo suddenly, stepping forward, "I don't know what you're thinking at all and the prizes are the most ridiculous things I've ever heard of but I'll never refuse a sweets challenge." She looked both Johnny and Miya in the eye, "How long does this competition go for?"

"U-Up until Christmas," said Miya, cowering slightly at the stoniness of Ichigo's eyes.

"That's fine then," said Ichigo, turning around, "Let's go."

"W-Wait! Ichigo-sempai!" called Lemon, running after her.

_What is Amano thinking? _thought Kashino, running after them.

* * *

><p>"What do you mean, what was I thinking?" said Ichigo once they were all in their own shop, "You don't run away from a challenge do you?"<p>

"Yes, but this is stupid!" said Lemon, "You don't want to have to risk being stuck with Johnny for the rest of your life, do you? Sure he's a nice guy but you're not into him, right?"

"Well no, but that won't matter because we'll be the ones who'll win," said Ichigo as if that solved everything, "We'll do the right things, our shop will function properly and we're likely to get more customers, you know."

"How?" said Kashino, "This is just a thought, but I think many people would rather go to a castle than what we have prepared right now which is basically nothing."

"We'll focus on getting our shop looking nice and selling delicious sweets," said Ichigo, "Koshiro-san will attract many customers with her shop of course but what if there's too many?"

"Isn't that the whole point of the competition?" said Lemon.

"If she gets too many customers, there'll be a long queue," said Ichigo, "Some people might not want to wait that long so where would they go?"

"Here," said Lemon, her eyes shining, "Are you sure about that?"

Ichigo nodded, "If you consider everything, Christmas is coming, you know. Therefore, so is snow, most likely. Koshiro-san will attract crowds of people who have to line up in the snow. So we'll make a nice warm shop where people can relax and avoid catching colds and attract many customers ourselves. The end."

"But at the same time, Koshiro-san will be getting many customers as well," said Lemon, "So this competition could end either way. Plus, it's not certain all the customers from Beautiful Night would come here. There are many other shops as well."

Ichigo flinched, "Well, that's true…"

"You didn't consider that?" said Kashino, sitting down frustrated and closing his eyes, _at this rate I'll be walking down the aisle with the devil… _

"Johnny's gone as well," said Kashino, "It was difficult enough running the shop with four people so how are we supposed to do it with three? And we haven't even decided on the exterior or interior yet since we all have different opinions. No matter how you look at it, the chances of us winning are about a bajillion to one."

All three of them remained silent for a while, each fuming or being depressed quietly. The sudden jingle of bells made all of them look up.

"My, my, what's with all the sullen faces?" said a familiar voice.

"Hanabusa!" said Kashino, "And Andoh too! What are you doing here?"

"Well, Caramel found out about your situation and we've decided to help you," said Andoh, smiling, "Besides, I must repay you for helping me with my shop last time."

"And I flew back to Japan," said Hanabusa, "When I heard about it. I see you haven't worked on the designing yet. I'll take care of that. Ichigo-chan!" he said the last part extra-happily as he walked to her side and took one of her hands, "It's nice to see you again." He looked confusedly at Lemon and Kashino who were urgently shaking their heads and making slicing movements at their throats as if to say 'don't do it!'

"Get your hands off me," said Ichigo, yanking her hand out of his grip and glaring coldly at him, "Playboy."

There was a surprised silence and then Hanabusa, looking hurt, took Kashino by the arm and tugged him outside. Andoh followed them.

As the door closed, Lemon turned to Ichigo, "Did you really have to say that, Ichigo-sempai?"

"What?" said Ichigo shrugging, "He always was. I was stupid not to point it out earlier."

Lemon ducked her head and walked out, until she was standing with Hanabusa, Andoh and Kashino who were discussing Ichigo's change.

"Yamagishi-san?" said Andoh.

"We have to get Ichigo-sempai back," said Lemon, a line of tears running down her face, "I don't care anything about the competition! But we have to get her back to the way she was!"

"But… If you forfeit or lose the competition, these two will have to wed…" said Hanabusa, looking sadly at Lemon.

"You'll need your parents to approve of her though since you're under 20 years old," said Lemon, "Do you really think Kashino-sempai's parents would want him dating let alone marrying the daughter of a big sweets company? Ichigo-sempai's dad is strict and protective so I don't think he'd approve of Johnny either especially if Ichigo doesn't actually like him."

"That may be true but Ichigo isn't going to let you pull out of the challenge as she is now," said Andoh, "And she won't tolerate slacking off either."

"We'll pretend to be working and doing everything we can to win," said Kashino, finally talking, "But we'll secretly be dropping subtle hints to remind Amano of her love for sweets."

"So our true goal isn't to win the competition but to remind Ichigo-chan of her love for sweets?" said Hanabusa, smiling, "It's good. I like it."

"Yeah," said Andoh. Lemon nodded smiling, wiping away her tears.

"We just can't have Ichigo find out," said Andoh, "She'll never like it considering her personality now. It'll be top secret, OK?"

"Yeah," everyone nodded.

"So, let's go prepare the shop," said Kashino, walking back towards the door.

"OK," said everyone.

_We're definitely getting her back, _everyone thought.

* * *

><p><strong>Couldn't come up with a great ending to this chapter so just wrote the first thing that came to my mind and what the characters would do. Still, hope you like it~<strong>

**And I actually had to research Japanese marriage laws to find out how to write the marriage bit. So Kashino would have been stuck dating Miya for four years until he could get married. XD**


	14. Leave

Chapter Thirteen: Leave

Preparing to open shop on short notice wasn't easy Ichigo soon realised, even with skilled patissieres and patissiers. They had decided to use Sourire de l' Ange (her strawberry tart), Lemon's Fruit Cake and the Rainbow Kingdom sweet which had been made during their visit to the Sweets Kingdom. As Ichigo was slicing the strawberries for the tarts however, her mind was focussed on something else.

_What was that back then? _Thought Ichigo, _that feeling…_

_~Flashback~_

"_So we have decided on an Alpine shack theme," said Hanabusa. They had come back and Ichigo was suspicious of their long absence but they were planning things and moving things along much quicker than she suspected so she shrugged of her suspicions. _

_Hanabusa turned the sketchbook so everyone could see, "Here's the rough design. Have any of you any suggestions?"_

"_There should be a simpler entrance, shouldn't there?" said Ichigo, "Instead of stairs, just a flat entrance for anybody with disabilities…" She trailed off, widening her eyes in shock as something seemed to trigger in her memory and said, surprised, "Eh?"_

"_Is something the matter?" asked Andoh worriedly. _

"_No, nothing," said Ichigo. But she… remembered something. She had said the exact same suggestion before to Kashino some time ago. But, what was that feeling? _

_~Flashback Ends~_

Ichigo chopped down on the strawberry harder than necessary, causing it to slip and letting her cut it irregularly.

"Damn it," said Ichigo, picking up the pieces and just eating them, _well, no sense wasting food…_

As she ate, she thought. Before, she had been certain that feeling was a fluke. That warm-feeling, excited, happy feeling. But now she wasn't so sure. If everything happened for a reason, that feeling had to mean something, right?

_Well, I shouldn't waste time thinking about that, _thought Ichigo, as she prepared the ingredients for the base of the tart. But she couldn't shake the thought out of her mind and accidentally didn't stir the mixture quite enough before she baked it, causing the base to be slightly lumpy instead of completely smooth in texture.

"Damn it," said Ichigo again when she tried them and detected her flaw immediately, "That's twice today. What's wrong with me?" _Why do I care about that stupid one-off feeling so much?_

"You should relax a bit and not pressure yourself so much," said Kashino. He was working right next to her station, helping Lemon with her Fruit Cakes.

"I'm not pressuring myself," said Ichigo stubbornly. Even though it was the worst reply in that particular situation, she couldn't think of anything else to say in return, especially as he was right, "And I am relaxed."

"You're pressuring yourself to do everything absolutely perfectly," stated Kashino, looking up and looking at her right in the eye. He was completely serious, "Even one mistake is unacceptable to you. Isn't that a lot of pressure you're putting on yourself to do that?"

"I'll manage," said Ichigo coldly and started making a new batch.

"You know, I wouldn't be particularly worried if I made a small mistake if I were you," said Kashino, despite the fact Ichigo was ignoring him, "In case you haven't noticed, you have an incredibly advanced palate. The ordinary customer wouldn't be able to notice something you do so don't worry over the smallest things so much."

Ichigo sighed, "Well, if you notice something wrong with your sweet, shouldn't you fix it? Don't your customers deserve the best sweet you could possibly produce?"

"I'm just saying you shouldn't put ten tonnes of pressure on yourself over one single tart's texture," said Kashino.

"We all think differently," said Ichigo, checking the mixture before stirring it some more, "I just happen to think a mistake is unacceptable."

"That's ironic," said Kashino.

"Nani?" said Ichigo.

"You were the one who taught me it was OK to make mistakes," said Kashino, "Remember our showdown against Team Tennouji? I didn't finish the chocolate Eiffel Tower but you re-assured me it was all right. You said it was OK to make mistakes. Don't you remember?"

Ichigo's mind triggered another memory. She remembered… She remembered she believed it was all right to make mistakes. She remembered trying to cheer up Kashino and let him know making mistakes was all right. She remembered him smiling afterwards when Henri-sensei announced they'd be going to Paris too and feeling glad and happy.

_That… can't be right… I never would have thought like that… Would I?_

Feeling doubtful and confused, she put down her knife and walked towards the door, "Excuse me. I need to go out for a moment. I'll take care of the tarts when I get back."

Quickly, Ichigo dashed outside, not bothering to change her clothes and ran out of view from the shop. She didn't want anyone else asking questions.

Not really sure where to go, she just ended up walking to the square of Marie's garden and sitting down on a bench there. The square wasn't too crowded so that was perfect.

Ichigo sighed and ran her hand through her hair, pushing back a few loose strands. _Was I really different before? _

_Was the first feeling what I was feeling when I was talking and planning for our shop with Kashino?_ thought Ichigo. The feeling was happy, warm and excited. Had that been really what she felt while she was discussing their shop and the sweets to be sold in it?

That couldn't be it… Sweets were nothing to her, they just had to be done perfectly and be flawless. Anything below that standard was rubbish. She **wouldn't** have gotten that feeling from something so worthless. She **didn't** have amnesia and was remembering something like her love for sweets. Everyone telling her she had amnesia was wrong. They were wrong.

So why did she have a gut feeling they were right?

Ichigo groaned and laid back, a hand placed over her face to shield out the sun, _I don't love sweets. I don't… right?_

* * *

><p>Miya walked around Marie's Garden, approaching the shop she was competing.<p>

_It will be useful to check out the competition, _thought Miya. She was confident of 'Beautiful Night Castle' but whatever team Ichigo was on always somehow swooped in and took the win when she was close to grasping it herself so she decided to be careful this time and make the chances of them winning as low as possible.

As she discreetly looked in the shop, she saw two new people unexpectedly. She frowned, _what is that Hanabusa and Andoh doing there? Still, I never specified they couldn't do that… Wait, where's that Amano Ichigo?_

Miya carefully sneaked past the shop without anyone noticing her and walked around the area, looking for the brunette. Finally she spotted her sitting on a bench in the main square.

_So… she's snapped from the hard work already? _Thought Miya, as she approached, "Amano Ichigo?"

She looked up and looked at her for a few seconds before putting her arm back over her eyes, "Oh, it's just you."

"JUST me?" exclaimed Miya, offended to say the least and her head expanding anime-style, "You could at least be more polite to your seniors, you know!"

"Koshiro-san?" said Ichigo.

Miya's head shrunk back, "What?"

"Was I really… different… before?" said Ichigo.

"Eh…?" said Miya, caught completely off guard, _what the heck? If I'm correct, Ichigo was completely defensive about her memory loss before…_

"W-Well…" said Miya, "A lot more cheerful, that's for sure. Less of a perfectionist, more open with your emotions… And Vanilla was actually with you."

"Oh, yeah," said Ichigo, seeming to realise just then the Sweets Spirit wasn't around, "D-Did I… love sweets too?"

"Eh?" said Miya, "Well, yeah. You loved them more than anyone. You taught lots of people to love sweets too and cheered up a lot of people with them too. You enjoyed making them every day."

"Is that so?" said Ichigo emotionlessly.

"Yeah, why do you want to know anyway?" asked Miya, sitting down beside her, not wanting to stand up anymore.

"Making sweets…" said Ichigo, "Isn't exciting for me anymore. I made them perfectly and I've seen people enjoy them but… it doesn't do anything for me. I'm not motivated by it."

"How can that be?" said Miya, eyes wide in shock, "How hard have you hit your head, anyway? Your old self's sole purpose in life was making sweets for others to enjoy."

"Well, I gave it time," said Ichigo, "I tried making sweets for a while and tried to enjoy it but I never did. It just seemed like work but it wasn't fun or enjoyable. Just work."

At that point, Ichigo got up and walked towards the entrance of Marie's Garden. Miya jumped up, "O-OI! Amano Ichigo! Where are you going? You're still wearing your cooking outfit! And shouldn't you be helping your shop?"

"I'll change when I go back," said Ichigo emotionlessly.

"Go back where?" yelled Miya.

"Back to St Marie," replied Ichigo, "There's no need to help my shop anymore. I quit your competition and I quit being a patissiere. I'm going back home. Send the team my regards."

"E-EH? Wait!" shouted Miya but she was already gone, "ARE YOU SERIOUS?"

There was no reply so Miya guessed she was. She looked down at the ground. If this had been the real Ichigo, Miya would have probably been leaping around for joy since she had just abandoned the competition and Makoto was all hers. That would have been fair. But this was a completely different Ichigo. Somehow Miya couldn't summon up any sort of happiness out of what had just happened.

_Ichigo… _thought Miya, using only her first name for the first time in a while, _her condition was a lot more serious than we thought it would be…_

Coming to the decision that telling Makoto and the others was more important than the competition right now, Miya ran back to Ichigo's former shop.

* * *

><p><strong>I know this is a short chapter and sorry for that -_-<strong>

**But anyway, Ichigo has finally come to the only thing we never thought she'd do. It was actually a bit weird writing those words coming out of Ichigo. And yes, this is the lead up to the train scene in the Prologue. Also, Kashino's sister is coming back soon~ Does anyone actually know her name? If so, please let me know~**

**Anyways, review! **


	15. Another Reason

Chapter Fourteen: Another Reason

Once she reached the shop, Miya slammed open the door, panting. She couldn't remember the last time she was feeling so urgent to do something, not even pursuing Kashino gave her such a sense of urgency.

"Koshiro-sempai?" said Lemon, seeming a bit suspicious by her appearance and the fact she even bothered to come down at all considering her self-confidence, "What are you doing here?"

"Amano…" panted Miya, "A… Amano Ichigo has…"

"What's going on out here?" said the Sweet Princes, coming out. Kashino immediately tensed at the sight of her and edged a bit so he was half-turned to retreat to the kitchen but Hanabusa put a hand on his arm.

"Kashino, look at her," said Hanabusa. Kashino did as he said and stood properly, seeming to understand she wasn't there to ambush him.

"What did she say?" asked Andoh.

"I'm not sure," said Lemon, going to stand beside her and gently led her to a chair and gave her some water, "She's said something about Ichigo-sempai, I think."

"Ichigo?" said Hanabusa, immediately serious. He spoke to Miya as she began to get her breath back, "What about Ichigo?"

"She's left," said Miya, gulping down some water. It hadn't been a long run to the shop but it was hot, plus she had to navigate herself through crowds of people and the overall surprise and another feeling – fear? – made her tired much quicker than usual, "Ichigo said she doesn't like making sweets anymore. She just said she's leaving."

"Impossible…" said Andoh, eyes wide.

Kashino looked more angry than shocked, "And what? You didn't try to stop her at all?"

"Like she would listen to me!" Miya retorted. Everyone was shocked; they had never heard this tone of voice from the Heiress directed at Kashino, "I'm not as close to her as the rest of you are. I would've called you while I chased after her but Makoto-kun's the only number I have and he never would have picked up. I thought it was more important to let the rest of you know instead of chasing after her screaming useless stuff she wouldn't listen to. Am I correct?"

"What about Johnny?" said Lemon, "You could have called him, couldn't you?"

"Johnny, Marron and Maize are all working hard at 'Beautiful Night Castle'," said Miya, "There are crowds of customers there and Johnny gets so wrapped up making sweets, he often doesn't feel or hear the sound of his phone and therefore never picks up. Besides, again, Johnny is not as close to Amano as he happens to think. Only you people would Amano bother listening to."

"We have to go after her right away," said Café.

"I agree," said Hanabusa.

"And the competition?" said Kashino, eyeing Miya suspiciously.

"The competition's off, obviously," said Miya, rolling her eyes, "This is more important after all, right?"

"But… The overall rankings…" said Hanabusa, "It won't matter if I leave but Kashino, Lemon and Andoh both have shops to manage otherwise they'll fall to last place and have their shops closed down."

Everyone was quiet as they considered this but Miya spoke up, "I'll have my father take care of that, then. He is a major sponsor for this whole project anyway. I'll have him do something about it and talk to Henri-sensei."

"Thank you, Koshiro-san," smiled Andoh. Lemon also smiled and said her thanks.

As Andoh, Hanabusa, Lemon and their Sweet Spirits went off to get changed, Kashino hung back and looked at Miya. He never thought the day would come that he would be _grateful _to her, the one who made every day of his existence Hell but it seemed he was wrong. He smiled slightly, "Thank you." Then, deciding he still owed her something for both telling them about Ichigo and helping to stop their shops from being shut down, he added hesitantly, "…Miya." Then he ran to change leaving Miya standing there in mute shock for once.

* * *

><p>Ichigo sat in the train, ignoring the looks she got for wearing a chef's uniform and stared out the window instead. She was getting closer to St Marie now. While she couldn't shake those feelings she'd experienced out of her head, she had meant every word she said. Making sweets just wasn't fun for her anymore. There wasn't anything she could do about that so she decided the easiest thing to do was just quit. Sure she was <em>good <em>at making sweets but just because you were good at it didn't necessarily mean you _enjoyed _it. That was the case for her.

As the train stopped one stop away from her destination, Ichigo thought back on her team. _I wonder if they're mad at me for leaving all of a sudden, _she wondered, _well, that doesn't really matter. I'm not going back no matter how mad they are. _

Ichigo walked through St Marie Academy and immediately took the shortest route to her dorm room. If she knew her friends, which she did, they would drop everything and come on the next train, attempting to talk her into staying. She cut across a place that was supposed to be out-of-bounds but didn't think anything of it, her mind focussed on her goal to get out of here as quickly as possible.

"Ichigo?" said Rumi, looking up surprised as she suddenly came in and pulled out her suitcase, "What the— what are you doing?"

"Packing," said Ichigo as she tossed in everything she could find – clothes, shoes, books, any possession she had, leaving one outfit for her to change into – and tried to force the lid down to zip it up since she didn't bother folding anything properly and made a large pile of stuff in the suitcase.

"Packing for what? Another trip to the States?" said Rumi jokingly.

"No, home," said Ichigo.

The joking tone was immediately gone, "I'm sorry, what?"

"Home," repeated Ichigo and added sarcastically, "You know, where you live?" She sat down on her suitcase and managed to squash it down far enough to easily zip it up even though it was bulging. Then she grabbed her change of clothes and went into the bathroom.

"Why are you going home?" asked Rumi, trying to keep her panicking under wraps but not really succeeding, "I thought you wanted to be a patissiere!"

"I don't! Not anymore!" said Ichigo as she quickly pulled on a denim mini-skirt over her black leggings. Then she hurriedly put on a purple hooded top and purple sneakers. She roughly brushed through her hair and then ran out of the bathroom and grabbed her suitcase, nearly bowling over Rumi.

"Wait, Ichigo!" called Rumi, "Why don't you want to be a patissiere anymore? You don't remember anything, do you? You've forgotten your love of sweets, your own personality, even your dreams! Why can't you be the person you were when I met you on your very first day here? Do you know how much I miss her, Ichigo? The real you?"

Ichigo paused in the doorway. Somehow, such sadness from a friend triggered something inside her as well but she brushed that off as well. Instead she merely said, "I don't know who I was before. If I even was different before. But if I was, I'm never changing. You know that yourself, don't you? The damage is permanent. So just let me go and start moving on with your life."

With that, she opened the door and ran out like lightning, despite the extra weight her suitcase gave her. She convinced herself she was doing the right thing that it was for the best for all of them really. She could never change so there was no point in sticking around and making everyone else around her pine for a girl they would never see again.

_It's the right thing to do, _Ichigo repeated in her head over and over again, _so why do I feel like crying?_

* * *

><p><em>WHERE ARE ALL THE TRAINS? <em>Kashino screamed mentally in his head. The only thing preventing him from yelling it aloud was the fact that they were in public. He, Andoh, Hanabusa and Lemon were waiting in the train station, their patience running out by the second.

"OK, you know what?" said Hanabusa, "We're going with Plan B."

"What's Plan B?" said Lemon.

"A helicopter," said Hanabusa, "I thought we'd make it in time to get on the same train as Ichigo-chan but apparently that's not the case. So instead, I asked Koshiro-san to call a helicopter for us beforehand. Let's go."

"Good job, Satsuki!" said Café.

They ran outside and sure enough, a helicopter was flying there. Having spotted them, a ladder came down for them to climb on since there weren't exactly any places for them to land. Kashino looked up and happened to notice the design on the helicopter, still the same from the New York trip.

"I am not going in that thing!" said Kashino. Even if he and Miya had sparked the smallest of friendships now, that design was plain embarrassing.

"Come on!" yelled Lemon, finally snapped, "Is your manly pride more important or the recovery of Ichigo-sempai's memories?"

Kashino blinked, wide-eyed, but from the way Lemon looked, he decided it was best for him not to argue further and quickly climbed up the ladder, the other two males climbing up after him and Lemon went up last.

"Please take us to St Marie!" said Lemon. The pilot nodded and rolled up the ladder before speeding off.

"Ichigo-chan left for some reason…" murmured Caramel, looking out of the window, deep in thought.

"What do you mean 'for some reason'?" asked Chocolat, "She stated her reason – in that she doesn't like sweets anymore."

"No, I think there's another reason," said Caramel, "Ichigo has the mind of a patissiere. Even if she thinks she doesn't like sweets now, her subconscious mind knows she really does. It must be hard for her to claim she doesn't like sweets when her mind tells her she does. I think she left for another reason because of that."

"Well, what else reason would she leave then?" said Lemon.

"I have a theory," Andoh said. Everyone turned to him expectantly.

"Ichigo was a fighter, no doubt about that," said Andoh, "Even if she does have amnesia now, Ichigo would never give up on herself, no matter what. I'd say there's definitely still a part of Ichigo in there somewhere. What would the real Ichigo do if she were stuck in a situation like this?"

Everyone was silent for a while, considering this.

"She would leave," said Kashino, breaking the silence, "She wouldn't be able to bear seeing us upset like that, waiting for the real Amano to come back. She knows the condition is permanent and doesn't want to see us sad so she just decides to leave… Do you really think something like that is possible?"

"Anything is possible when it's Ichigo-chan," smiled Hanabusa, "Anyway, we're here."

Once they got down again, the helicopter flew away and they ran to the Girls' Dorms. Everyone looked at Lemon.

"Hai, hai," said Lemon, running inside and running to Ichigo's former room. She opened the door which was unlocked, "Ichigo-sempai?"

"Lemon-chan?" said Rumi. She was hopping around, trying to put on her shoe, "Ichigo's already left to the train station! Let's go!"

"B-But you have to get a note to leave the school," said Lemon as Rumi practically pushed her out and locked the door, "You can't just go!"

"Who cares?" said Rumi as Orchard flew out and gave her a headband, "Thanks, Orchard."

"U-Um…" said Lemon, as Rumi dragged her out and spoke to Sweet Princes, "Ichigo's left already, we have to go quickly."

"Y-Yeah…" said each of the Princes looking at Rumi's face and deciding it was best not to object.

As they nearly ran out of the school, a voice stopped them, "And where are you all going?"

They each turned around, "Ameya-sensei!"

"OK, I'm sort of confused here," said Ameya-sensei as she approached them, "I thought you three," she looked at Lemon, Kashino and Andoh, "Were supposed to be at Marie's Garden. You," she looked at Hanabusa, "Are supposed to have left and be somewhere in the world. And you," she spoke to Rumi, "Are not supposed to leave the school at all. Have you any reasons for suddenly leaving?"

"Well, Ichigo-chan is—" said Hanabusa.

"Amano Ichigo?" said Ameya-sensei, "She _has _been acting differently because of that amnesia attack. What has happened?"

As they explained the situation, Ameya-sensei listened patiently. When they finished, she spoke, "You say she's going home? Well, it should be fine. We've notified her parents about her amnesia recently. Her father blew his top naturally, sick with worry and requesting Amano go home straight away. We've explained to him that the condition might get better and that Ichigo has to hand in a note of resignation in order to go home, which she has, by the way and he's been persistent. So we should let Amano go home for a while. It's only fair her family gets to see their daughter after all this, isn't it? Besides, out of all people, I think her family has the best shot to get her to regain her memories, if possible."

"It's permanent, sensei," said Kashino, frustration in his voice. Chocolat placed her tiny hand on his shoulder so he wouldn't explode and he seemed to calm down.

"Miracles happen," said the teacher, "I think you ought to know that better than anyone. Anyway, it is already getting quite late. I think it's best to leave Amano and her family alone for a while to try and sort things out. In the morning, you can go visit her. I don't want you leaving now and getting there very late and having to explain to your parents why you're lost in the middle of the night."

Everyone looked ready to protest but a look from Ameya-sensei caused them to stop and nod.

"Good," said Ameya-sensei, "You may go back to your dorms. As for you," she looked at Hanabusa, "I suppose you'll have to share the room with Kashino and Andoh. There are no other spare rooms. Kashino and Andoh, you don't mind lending Hanabusa some of your things just for tonight?"

"I understand," said Hanabusa. Kashino and Andoh nodded.

"No rose petals though," said Kashino, "Just to make that clear."

Hanabusa smiled, "Of course not."

* * *

><p><em>Later that night…<em>

_Geez, that Amano… _thought Kashino as he scribbled on a piece of paper. He was sitting at his desk and was writing some other ideas for the shop. Even if he wasn't competing with the Heiress, they still had to manage the shop nevertheless. Andoh, Hanabusa and the Sweet Spirits had already dropped off to sleep. He yawned and put down his pen, _I can't concentrate…_

Suddenly, he heard a noise outside. He flinched and crept silently to the window, opening it and looking out. He couldn't see anything.

"Makoto!" said a familiar voice. Kashino looked down and saw a figure, immediately tensing and slightly nervous. But then she spoke, "It's Miyabi! Come down!"

"!" said Kashino, eyes widening. Quickly, he grabbed his jacket and closed the window before running downstairs. He ran outside and sure enough, she was standing there, her long hair tumbling down her black outfit.

"Nee-san!" said Kashino, "What are you doing here?"

* * *

><p><strong>There you have it! :D<strong>

**I'm writing this late at night so…**

**Review! :)**


	16. La Lumiere Du Ciel

Chapter Fifteen: La Lumiere Du Ciel

Kashino's eyes were wide as he saw his sister standing there. She rushed in and closed the door behind them.

"Why are you acting so weird?" asked Kashino as his sister looked around the place and as if checking the area.

"What? I'm under house arrest and I'm technically trespassing," said Miyabi, "This is all for your sake too, by the way, so you better be grateful, hear me?"

"Maybe, if I even knew what the heck you're doing," said Kashino, "And why couldn't you have just asked the principal to see me instead of trespassing?"

"Because I can't!" said Miyabi, "Now where's your room? We'll talk there."

Kashino frowned confusedly but led his sister up to his room. Forgetting about his roommates, he turned on the light and walked over to shut the curtains so no one could see. He understood Miyabi was sneaking around for some reason.

"Kashino?" said Chocolat sleepily, drifting up, "Is something going on? Why'd you turn on the light?"

"My eyes!" said Caramel as she woke up from the sudden brightness.

"Kashino, why— Hey, your sister!" said Hanabusa, also woken up.

"What's going on?" said Andoh, putting on his glasses.

"I want to find out myself," said Kashino, sitting down on his bed while Miyabi sat on the chair of his desk. Hanabusa was sitting on the floor and Andoh was sitting on the other bed, "Explain, nee-san."

"Well," said Miyabi, "I don't think you two," she looked at Andoh and Hanabusa, "were there but Makoto took Amano-san to our hospital. While there, our parents gave a diagnosis that Amano-san's amnesia was permanent."

Kashino flinched, having been reminded of this, again.

"But that is not true," said Miyabi.

Kashino looked up, "What?"

"Our parents were lying, Makoto. You've never studied anything about being a doctor so our parents took advantage of that. The scan result showed the amnesia can be fixed. I saw it myself and I'm a certified doctor. There's no mistake."

"Why would they lie?" said Kashino, trying very hard to keep it together even though he felt like running to the hospital and yelling at his parents for lying. His voice was shaking with suppressed anger, "Why would they lie about something so important?"

Chocolate floated by his head, invisible to Miyabi, "Kashino, keep it together!"

Kashino gave one swift nod that he hoped Miyabi didn't notice. She didn't.

"Well, think about it, Makoto," said Miyabi, "Amano-san has been a massive influence on you as a patissier. A massive influence; almost as much as our Uncle had on you, I presume. If our parents cut off that one massive influence that encouraged you to be a patissier so much, it would set you back a lot and maybe affect you psychologically. I suppose Mum and Dad are still hoping you'll be a doctor and think that by cutting off one of your major influences might help raise that chance a bit."

"Is that what they were doing?" Kashino almost yelled. Hanabusa and Andoh gave him warning looks to keep his voice low for fear of being overheard and Miyabi getting in trouble. Kashino glared at them, his temper high and continued almost-shouting, "Why didn't you tell me anything, nee-san?"

"Kashino, don't take it out on your sister…" said Andoh quietly. Kashino glared at him.

"I didn't tell you anything at the time because… well, what do you think would have happened if I did? Mum and Dad would probably confine you to the house, lecture you day and night about giving up on the patissier life and you never would have had the chance to help your friend. I had to find out the reasons for their actions first; so I would know what to explain to you but our parents are pretty smart and figured I was trying to help you and Amano-san. They have been suspicious of me since I signed your permission note to go to Paris. So they confined me to the house and as if that wasn't enough, they also called and told the school to notify them if I was spotted here. So I spent a few days planning how to escape, as well as allowing my parents time to let their guard down and discussing plans with a couple of members of the security to help me get a map of the school with Makoto's room marked on it. Then I picked tonight, one of the busiest days of the hospital to come and here I am."

"Wow…" said Andoh, "You really plan things out really well. I can see you and Kashino have both inherited the brains of the family."

"It's like being a spy," said Café.

"There were some difficulties of course," said Miyabi, "It took a lot of bribing to get the security to even consider helping me at the cost of their jobs. Plus I never expected the gates of this school to be so high. I've definitely developed a hate of climbing now."

"Well, there is one question," said Hanabusa, "And that is, we know Ichigo-chan is curable which is good but what do we actually have to do?"

"Hm…" said Miyabi, "With Amano-san's amnesia, a few significant memories might get her memories back."

"Significant memories…" everyone mused aloud except Miyabi, "Of Amano/Ichigo/Ichigo-chan's love for sweets?"

"This is the part I unfortunately can't help you in," said Miyabi, "I don't know Amano-san as well as you do. Also, there is no guarantee that Ichigo will remember. It all comes down to chance depending on the significance of the memory. You must be prepared for the worst if this doesn't end well. Understand?"

"Hai," said the three and the Sweet Spirits. Except of course, Miyabi didn't hear the latter.

"Good," Miyabi turned to leave, but then walked to Kashino and flicked him in the head.

"Ite!" said Kashino, "Oi, what was that for?"

"You had better bring her memories back, got that?" said Miyabi, "I wouldn't risk everything for anyone other than that girl and that's only because I know how happy she makes you. I heard your little confession in the hospital. I don't know what kind of person she is but her influence is contagious, seriously. But I'm kind of glad for that. Show her the light, Makoto and get her memories back. It's nice to meet your Sweet Spirits by the way." Then she turned and left.

"E-EH? She can see us?" cried Chocolat while the Sweets Princes widened their eyes in surprise. Floating after Miyabi was a black flying light. It turned around and flew back into the room, taking the form of a Sweet Spirit.

She had wavy black hair tied back with a scarlet ribbon. Her dress was like a gothic maids', minus the apron and where it was traditionally white was scarlet red. Her eyes were large and coal black. Small black flats were on her feet.

"I am Yuri. Nice to meet you. I am Miyabi's Sweet Spirit and specialise in sweets involving nuts because Miyabi likes savoury type stuff. She wants to work with sweets in the future alongside her doctor career since your team's influence on her. She works part-time at the Salon de Marie as a matter of fact—"

"Come on, Yuri!" said Miyabi, grabbing her Sweet Spirit, "See you, Makoto!"

"Good… bye?" said Kashino as the door shut. He and his teammates all anime sweat-dropped at once.

"Well… Sweets and nee-san, huh?" said Kashino, "Who knew? She works part-time at the Salon de Marie?"

"I know what you mean…" said Andoh, "But, that's a good thing, right?"

Kashino shrugged, "I guess. I just hope she doesn't work herself too hard. She's a natural workaholic. I can't see how she's supposed to work with sweets, be a doctor, possibly be a mother and put up with our parents but who knows…"

"Eh, she'll do what she wants," said Chocolat, "If it's Miyabi, I'm sure she'll manage."

Kashino shrugged, "I guess. Anyway, important and significant memories, huh? You guys got any ideas?"

"Hm… DVDs of the Grand Prix?" suggested Café, "Ichigo-chan might remember some sort of love for sweets by watching it."

"Maybe," said Caramel, nodding, "Maybe we could replicate Ichigo's Sourire d le' Ange strawberry tart. If we put the feeling in it, she might be able to taste it and remember something."

"That would work but Sourire d le' Ange is unique to Amano only," said Kashino, "No matter how hard we try, we really can't replicate it perfectly since it's her recipe and creation."

"Maybe I should kiss her again!" said Hanabusa, eyes widening as if he'd just had an epiphany.

"WHAT HAS THAT GOT TO DO WITH ANYTHING?" yelled Kashino.

"Calm down, Kashino!" cried Chocolat.

"Well, we'd just experienced our first win as a team when I kissed Ichigo-chan," explained Hanabusa, "Maybe she could relive those feelings if I do it again!"

"I think you just want to kiss her again," said Andoh, sweat-dropping.

"I'm pretty sure when you kissed Amano, she was feeling shock, embarrassment and maybe even disgust," said Kashino, rolling his eyes.

"No, that'd be you, Kashino," said Caramel, "If Hanabusa ever kissed you."

"Why would I kiss him?" said Hanabusa.

"What are we even talking about now?" said Andoh.

"I don't know," said Chocolat.

"Well, I guess I shouldn't kiss her, Kashino," said Hanabusa, smirking slyly, "She is your girl after all."

"E-EH?" said Kashino, turning red. Hanabusa laughed.

"Honestly though, your sister said she heard your confession in the hospital," said Hanabusa, "You confessed in a HOSPITAL of all places? What did she say?"

"Kashino didn't confess it to Ichigo, he confessed it to a wall," said Chocolat.

"You confessed in a HOSPITAL and not even to the GIRL but to a WALL?" said Hanabusa as if it was the most horrifying thing he'd ever heard.

"As if you're any better, Mr Confesses to a Million Girls in One Day," said Kashino, glaring at him.

"I've never _confessed _to anyone," said Hanabusa.

"So I beat you to it?"

"By confessing to a WALL?"

"Both of you FOCUS!" yelled Chocolat, finally snapped, "We're talking about Ichigo, not who confessed to a wall or who hasn't confessed yet! Think about stuff that are significant memories for Ichigo! What is stuff she'll never forget?"

"She'll never forget…?" said Kashino, suddenly remembering something.

"…_I'll never forget it!" cried Ichigo in his head, smiling happily._

_When did she say that? _thought Kashino, thinking hard back on everything she'd ever said to him, finally coming across it.

_Even nee-san was trying to tell me, _he thought.

"That's it," said Kashino aloud, grinning and then bolted straight out of the room. He didn't even care he was in his pyjamas and probably would fall asleep from a lack of sleep soon. He just had to get to the kitchen.

"…_I'll never forget it!" smiled Ichigo._

"_Show her the light and get her memories back, Makoto," said Miyabi._

_Light = Hikari._

* * *

><p>Ichigo sighed as she sat in a cheap hotel room. She was sixteen and had some money to stay in a cheap hotel for the night. She had decided to not disturb her family during the night and just go in the morning. After all, she remembered her younger sister usually had competitions early in the year. She didn't want to go around and wake her up right before her big day. Ichigo might have lost her memories but she still loved and cared for her family. She lied on the bed, still in her everyday clothes and scrolled through endless messages from everyone.<p>

_Why did you leave? _–Rumi.

_Please come home, Ichigo! _– Her parents.

_Did you really lose your memories, sis? Papa and Mama are getting really worried… _- Natsume.

_Ichigo, where did you go? _– Johnny.

_I just can't make everyone happy, _thought Ichigo, shutting her phone without replying to anyone and put it on the bedside table. She stared up at the ceiling, frowning.

_I'd thought it'd be better for everyone if I went back home. Everyone at St Marie's are worried and if I go back, my family will be worried. But at least everyone at St Marie's know I'm pretty much fine. My family doesn't so what was I supposed to do? Leave them worrying? And I don't even like sweets anymore either so what was the point of staying? _

Ichigo yawned and decided to go to sleep. She couldn't be bothered getting up to change so she just quickly fell asleep on the bed.

* * *

><p><em>Why didn't I think of this before? <em>thought Kashino as he mixed the cake mixture to get just the right texture, _even sis thought of it before I did…_

Chocolat floated above Kashino's head, confused but decided not to interrupt his concentration. Once she saw Kashino start tempering white chocolate though, she realised what he was doing and smiled, "So that's it…"

"Kashino, what are you doing?" said Hanabusa and Andoh, running in, closely followed by Rumi.

"Is it something involving Ichigo?" said Rumi.

"He's making a special cake for Ichigo," said Chocolat, flying over so Kashino could continue cooking in peace, "Ichigo said she'd never forget it the last time she tried it. It's called 'Hikari'."

"'Hikari', huh?" said Hanabusa, "Should we help him?"

"No," said Chocolat, "'Hikari' is a really high level chocolate cake and—"

"What are you talking about, Chocolat?" said Kashino from his cooking station. He looked up and smiled slightly, "If this is going to work, we need everyone's feelings in it. Everyone's."

Chocolat looked surprised for a second but then smiled, "You're right." Then she suddenly thought of something, "Well, if we're getting everyone…" she flew off, "I'll be back. You guys start making the cake!"

"Well, if we're combining everyone's abilities and feelings, we're not going to make just 'Hikari'," said Kashino, "We're making something much better!"

"Yeah," said Hanabusa, "May I do the design?"

"Sure," nodded Kashino, "We're going to make something unbelievable."

_After a few minutes…_

"I'm back!" said Chocolat, flying back in with two people following behind her. Kashino looked up and he was surprised at who he saw.

"Johnny! Koshiro-sempai! And Vanilla too?"

"We're really getting Ichigo's memory back?" said Vanilla, smiling, "That's great! I was depressed all the time in the Sweets Kingdom…"

"Is that where you've been all this time?" said Marron.

"Ichigo didn't want me anymore! Where else was I supposed to go?" said Vanilla, anime-crying.

"Hey," grinned Johnny, not seeming to mind in the least being woken up in the middle of the night. Miya, on the other hand, was grouchier.

"If this wasn't for Amano Ichigo, I would never have bothered doing this," she snapped, "I'm definitely going to have bags in the morning!"

"I've finished the design!" announced Hanabusa.

"Really?" said everyone, turning their attention to him.

"OI!" yelled Miya.

"Amazing!" said Maize, staring at the sketch, "It looks great!"

"We each have our own roles to play in the cake right?" said Johnny, his eyes looking impressed, "You're not so bad, Hanabusa."

"Thank you," said Hanabusa, "Yeah, we all have our own bit to do. We have a lot of work to do. We're probably going to be up for two hours or more and we can't fall asleep. We also can't get caught. Everyone's fine with doing that, right?"

"Yeah!" everyone said.

_Later…_

"You know, the only downside with everyone putting their own bit in is that all our flavours will overpower each other," said Hanabusa as everyone began cooking.

"We didn't really think of that," Miya frowned, "But you're right. With all these flavours, it'll be really overpowering."

"Isn't there a way we can balance it out?" said Rumi.

"We don't have that sort of knowledge on how to," said Andoh, "All I can think of now is calling Henri-sensei but he's probably busy…"

_I wouldn't call him anyway… _thought Kashino and then had a light bulb moment, "Well, we'll just have to call someone who's learned all of Henri-sensei's knowledge."

He grabbed his phone and clicked on a contact, even if she was all the way in New York.

"Hello?" said the voice of Tennouji.

"Tennouji-san?" said Kashino, "Sorry for calling at this time…"

"No problem," said Tennouji, "It's only 1 PM here anyway because of the time difference. What's wrong?"

"We need to know how to balance overpowering flavours," said Kashino, "It's for Amano and we can't take anything out."

"For Amano?" said Tennouji, sounding a bit surprised but was smart enough to figure out the situation for herself, "Oh, I see, her amnesia… Well, what ingredients do you have in the cake?"

After a bit of advice from Tennouji, Kashino grinned as their flavours balanced out perfectly.

"How is it?" asked Tennouji.

"Perfect," said Kashino, "Thank you, Tennouji-san."

"As long as it helps her," said Tennouji, sounding as if she were smiling, "Just call me again at any time if you have any more trouble." Then they both hung up and Kashino continued working.

_At 3 in the morning…_

"We're finally finished!" said Rumi, leaning on the bench top, not even minding it was covered with all sorts of stuff, she was so exhausted.

"The decorating took a lot longer than I thought it would," said Johnny, sitting on the ground, "God, I'm tired!"

"Like you're the only one," said Miya grumpily, sitting across from him.

"Is it that time of the month again?" said Johnny, looking at his cousin, "You seem grumpier than usual."

"Urusai!" yelled Miya, chucking a rolling pin at him.

"But the cake does look terrific," said Andoh, looking at the beautiful creation they made.

"Yeah," said Kashino, having to pinch himself to stay awake. They already had one person have amnesia from collapsing; he didn't want to make it two.

"What should we call this anyway?" said Hanabusa, "It's not just 'Hikari' anymore."

Kashino looked at the cake. It was true; it wasn't 'Hikari' anymore at all, yet he couldn't think of anything to name it.

"La Lumiere Du Ciel," said Orchard suddenly.

"Huh?" said everyone.

"La Lumiere Du Ciel," Orchard repeated, "'The Light from the Sky' or 'The Light from Heaven'. Looking at this cake, it's really beautiful, almost emanating its own light, don't you think?"

"'La Lumiere Du Ciel'," everyone murmured, smiling at the name.

"It sounds gorgeous," said Rumi, smiling softly, despite her tiredness.

"Now all we have to do is give it to Ichigo," said Vanilla.

"Not now, though," said Andoh, "It's already far too late or early depending on how you look at it. No way are the teachers going to let us leave now and we'll be missing if we do leave, worrying everyone if we do. What about later this morning?"

"Later sounds good," Hanabusa immediately said.

* * *

><p>Ichigo blinked up at the dark ceiling, a bit huffy at having woken up for no reason when it was still much too early to leave. She sighed and turned around, staring out the small window that came with her room. The sky was beginning to lighten up and the stars disappeared.<p>

_Today, _she thought, _today it'll all be over._

* * *

><p><em>Today, <em>thought Kashino and Ichigo as they both went to sleep.


	17. Nostalgia

Chapter Sixteen: Nostalgia

"!" said Ichigo, shooting up as she saw the hotel room. She grabbed the alarm clock beside her bed and looked at the blocky numbers, "I OVERSLEPT! Damn it, I'm going to be late for my train!"

She shot out of bed faster than she'd ever thought and ran into the small bathroom, hurriedly brushing her teeth and trying to brush her hair at the same time. Then she got dressed in a pink off-the-shoulder top with white lining and blue long shorts. She tugged on her white sneakers and threw her clothes in her suitcase, having to sit down to close it properly again.

_I guess some things really do never change, _she thought as she ran out and threw some money and the room key on the concierge's desk, "I'm sorry, I have to go! Thank you for the stay!"

"You're… welcome?" said the concierge, a bit taken aback as the sixteen year old dashed out the door and out of sight already.

_God damn it, _thought Ichigo. Knowing her teammates, they would charge for the station in an attempt to talk her to stay. But that was just something she didn't need right now. With that, she sped up towards the station.

_They're probably there already!_

* * *

><p>"Crap, we overslept!" shouted the voice of Johnny, causing Kashino to jump awake. He hadn't even realised he fell asleep as he leaned against the bench top.<p>

"Shut the hell up!" shouted Miya at her cousin, glaring at him, "As if going to sleep at 3 in the morning wasn't bad enough for me as it is!"

"BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!" yelled Chocolat, glaring irritably, "What happens if a teacher comes, huh?"

"She'll be proud of our work," said Rumi, coming in the doors of the room, Lemon behind her, "Besides, a teacher's not coming. I called Lemon and we were up all night looking out for any teachers as well as making sure the cake would still look good for today."

"Good job," said Andoh approvingly, "Thank you."

"You should probably take a nap though…" said Kashino, sweat-dropping at their dark, noticeable circles under their eyes.

"And you should probably take this cake to Ichigo," said Rumi, yawning, "The train will leave soon, won't it?"

"How are we going to get to the train station?" said Kashino, looking at the cake, "And moreover, how am I supposed to take this big thing with me?"

Everyone looked at Miya.

"The helicopter's out," said Miya, "Daddy had some big business to do today overseas. I don't really have any other means of transportation that can get here quickly enough."

"I see," said Hanabusa, "Well then… I don't really know what to do. Walking there would take too long and the cake might break or melt."

"Johnny, don't you have a motorcycle?" asked Lemon.

"Oh yeah," said Johnny like he suddenly remembered, grinning, "Come on, little shorty."

Kashino glared at him but picked up the rather large box in which Rumi and Lemon had placed the cake, "Shut up."

_Outside…_

"Isn't she a beauty?" grinned Johnny proudly, standing beside his motorcycle and getting out the helmets.

"Like I care about that. Is it fast?" asked Kashino impatiently.

"Of course," said Johnny, "She can only carry one passenger though. I suppose little shorty is coming?"

"WOULD YOU QUIT IT WITH THAT ALREADY?" yelled Kashino, his head expanding anime-style.

"Yeah, Kashino's going," said Hanabusa, "He is the most important person Ichigo has to see anyway."

"Good luck," said Lemon, smiling slightly.

"Yeah," said Kashino as Johnny plunked his helmet on his head and climbed on, "You guys get back before you get caught."

"OK," said Andoh, "Good luck, Kashino." Then they all turned and walked back to the school. Kashino smiled as he turned back around but then realised something.

"Wait, how is this supposed to work?" said Kashino, having no free hands to keep himself from falling off while holding the cake.

"Does it really matter?" said Johnny, turning around to look at him, perfectly serious, "I mean, really, I couldn't care less what happens to you as long as Ichigo's all right."

Kashino glared at him but then considered what he said. He smiled, "I guess you're right."

Johnny raised an eyebrow, looking at him for a few seconds. Then he grinned and turned back around, "OK, Maize!"

"Hai!" said Maize, flying near Kashino, producing a small pink card. The cake suddenly disappeared from Kashino's hands and appeared in the card.

"What the—" began Kashino before realising for himself, "Carry Cards, right?"

"Yep," smiled Maize. Chocolat grinned beside her, "Handy, huh?"

"If you knew we could use Carry Cards, why didn't you say so in the first place?" said Kashino irritably to Johnny.

"Well, I'm not handing Ichigo over to any little shorter-than-average, narcissist chocolatier," said Johnny as he revved the engine to life. Kashino could tell he was grinning.

"I wanted to see that you would put Ichigo before yourself and if you're good enough for her," continued Johnny, turning around and giving the thumbs up, grinning so hard it looked like his face would break, "Good job! You pass!"

For once, Kashino didn't feel like snapping back at the blonde. Instead he just smiled back, but then remembered his character towards Johnny and snapped, sounding irritable, "Just drive!"

"Hai, hai…" said Johnny, turning back around and driving the motorcycle out of the school grounds. Kashino glared at him for a few more seconds until he was sure he wouldn't turn around.

Then he smiled, _well… thanks, Johnny._

* * *

><p>"Damn, stupid train…" muttered Ichigo under her breath as she waited at the platform for the train to arrive. She might as well have taken a leisurely walk through the park before she came and still make it on time.<p>

Once again, the announcement that came on every five minutes sounded through the station, _"Due to some small problems, the trains will be a few minutes later than the regular schedules. Please be patient and sorry for the inconvenience."_

Ichigo began to tap her foot impatiently on the hard floor while also scanning the crowd for any sign of her friends. So far, she hadn't seen anyone yet. This was good. Wasn't it?

Ichigo's foot stomped down harder than necessary out of frustration, causing a loud thump to echo through the room. Luckily the train station was buzzing with noises so no one really took notice. Ichigo stopped tapping her foot and started playing with her hair instead, a nervous habit she'd recently picked up.

Suddenly, a sound cut through her mind. The roar of an engine, a motorcycle.

Ichigo immediately stopped twirling her hair and widened her eyes in surprise, looking around in shock.

_There are lots of motorcycles here, _Ichigo thought, attempting to calm herself, _or maybe you're just being paranoid or… I don't know, some other nervous problem._

The train headlights suddenly cut through the darkness of the tunnel. Ichigo immediately brightened up as the train pulled in and halted slowly to a stop. The doors slid open and crowds of people pushed out, in a hurry to be somewhere else. Ichigo pressed herself against the wall to avoid the stampede. Once the people were gone, she quickly hopped on and dragged her suitcase along with her, finally breathing a sigh of relief.

"_Please step away from the doors as they close," _said the cheerful woman's voice over the speakers. Ichigo finally began smiling as they closed and the train began moving.

"AMANO!"

Ichigo's breath caught in her throat. She nearly began choking right then and hit her chest to breathe again. Cursing under her breath and sighing, she turned around and, sure enough, there was Kashino standing at the edge of the platform, looking shocked yet angry at her.

"BAKA!" he shouted, "What the hell are you doing? Have you forgotten how much you love sweets? It was your dream, Amano!"

Ichigo bit the inside of her cheek out of frustration. She had to just make him leave, to leave in peace and get home to comfort her worrying family in peace. With that thought in mind, she forced her face to be stone cold and her voice to sound equally as icy.

"Sweets…" she said and her voice carried out perfectly. Nonchalant, icy cold and steady, "I don't enjoy making them anymore."

Then, as his face turned more shocked than angry, she turned away and walked further into the train, squishing into the crowd of people, disappearing from the eyes of him. She held back some tears as she went. True, she had said she had to visit her family but there were deeper reasons than that. She had grown to like the atmosphere, her friends and she even begun to LIKE making sweets. But she wasn't the Amano Ichigo they wanted. She was just like a doppelganger. They wanted the real one. Who wasn't her. So why bother stay and always remind them she was just their friend's look alike and not actually her?

She sighed and walked over, sitting on one of the seats. She didn't want to hurt them so much. But this was just the way it had to be.

* * *

><p>The house hadn't changed much in her absence. The garden was still well-kept, the driveway still had fresh tracks on from her mother always driving everywhere. Overall, the house was bright and had a strong sense of nostalgia for Ichigo.<p>

She smiled slightly and walked up to the door. She fetched the small key that was always under the loose brick in the wall and unlocked the door. Taking a deep breath, she pushed open the door and walked in, "I'm home!"

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry I haven't updated for so long and that it's so short! Assignments, tests and general school have had me busy for a while. <strong>

**Anyway, the train scene was told from Ichigo's perspective as opposed to Kashino's in the Prologue. :D**

**Also, review~**


	18. Arrival

Chapter Seventeen: Arrival

"I'm home!" called the brown haired teenager as she stepped into the house. It was bright and cheery as always with sunlight filtering in the windows and sounds of the TV blaring and newspapers rustling.

Suddenly a blonde haired girl ran into view. She blinked in surprise at Ichigo, "Nee-san!"

"Hey, Natsume," smiled Ichigo, "It's been pretty long."

"Ichigo?" said a woman, coming into view as well, closely followed by her husband who uttered her name as well.

"Ichigo!" cried Ichigo's mother, running over to embrace her daughter, "Are you all right? Why didn't you call us? The school suddenly called us and said you had _amnesia _and you weren't answering our calls or messages and— did you know how _worried _we were?"

Holding her at arm's length, Ichigo's mother certainly did look like she had aged with worrying, a rare thing since usually her father did most of the worrying.

"I'm sorry," said Ichigo, smiling reassuringly, "But I'm here now."

"Well that's true," said Ichigo's father, having tears at the corners of his eyes. He came forward and took her suitcase for her, "Anyway, come inside. It's good you decided to come home. When are you going back?"

"I'm," said Ichigo, doing her best to still smile genuinely, "I'm not going back."

"What?" said Natsume, looking shocked, "Why not?"

"I…" Ichigo knew her family would be shocked by the news but she thought it was better to get it over and done with, "I hate sweets. So I'm never going back."

* * *

><p>"We should be nearly there," said Johnny. He leaned forward slightly on his motorbike as he weaved expertly through the traffic on the road. Kashino even began to stop feeling so panicked.<p>

"…If what you said was right," said Johnny.

"I've been to her house," reminded Kashino.

"Lucky," muttered Johnny, "So what's her family like anyway? Pretty laid-back?"

Kashino wondered why they were casually talking as if in a café when they were speeding along dangerously on a death machine but he decided to reply anyway.

"Her mother's pretty strict but nice at the same time," said Kashino, "Her sister's a piano player and quite good actually. She determined. But her father worries like mad. You'd better park this thing around the corner otherwise he'll start tearing his hair out and start interrogating Amano on whether she's been on it before. And you know how she's a terrible liar."

"Huh," said Johnny, looking depressed, "That sucks."

"And I thought you were giving her to me?" said Kashino.

"Well, yeah, but I still want to make a good impression either way…"

"Once her father sees this thing, you'll never be back so don't get your hopes up."

"Hah. I'm glad you and Ichigo will be getting it on. Maybe her positive mind will override your little pessimistic, depressing mind."

"OI!" yelled Kashino, nearly falling off when he lifted a fist in a comedic way.

"Just kidding, kidding!" said Johnny, "We're entering the town now so stop trying to threaten me."

Kashino put his fist down as they sped along the busy streets. It was unusually filled with traffic today. People dashed along the streets and ran across the road. Johnny had to concentrate to avoid smashing into the reckless ones so they stayed silent as they headed towards the Amano house.

_I wonder if Amano's family get her memory back by the time we get there? _mused Kashino.

* * *

><p>"W-What did you just say?" said Amano Kyouko. Her eyes were wide with surprise at what her daughter had just said. The school had said Ichigo had amnesia but out of everything, she never knew Ichigo would forget the one thing she loved most.<p>

"I hate sweets. I'm never going back," said Ichigo.

"Nee-san!" said Natsume, her eyes wide.

"Ichigo!" cried Ichigo's father. He looked shocked, yet sort of happy underneath.

"What's with that look?" said Kyouko, eyes flashing at her husband, "Do you happen to be secretly happy?"

"Well, I'm just glad Ichigo forgot this and not… her family or who she is or something like that."

"BAKA!" yelled Kyouko, surprising her whole family for a minute, "Ichigo was at her happiest when she was making, eating or doing anything to do with sweets! Now she has forgotten the one thing that she loved more than anything! Don't you feel any sort of sadness?"

"Well of course I do! This is our daughter we're talking about! I'm just saying—"

"Just saying what? That it's actually turned out for the best?"

"No!"

"Mama! Papa! Please don't fight!" cried Natsume, looking between the two and at Ichigo.

"Natsume, please stay out of this," said Kyouko in an attempt to be calm, "Moreover, you!" she yelled the last part at her husband.

"Stop fighting!" said Ichigo. Both parents abruptly stopped and looked at her.

"Why are you fighting over such a thing?" said Ichigo, looking at them both evenly, "I've lost my love for sweets, apparently. The doctor said it was permanent. Big deal. Can't we just accept that and move on? There's no point wasting your energy fighting over something that nothing can be done about. Am I right?"

"Nee-san…" said Natsume, seeming even sadder now at her sister, "You really have changed…"

"Maybe you're right…" said her father after a minute's silence.

"Like the hell she is!" shouted Kyouko. Angry tears were gathering in her eyes, something Ichigo had never seen before. She stood in stunned silence as her mother began speaking.

"Like I'm accepting any of this! This is not the daughter I conceived and brought into this world!"

"K-Kyouko…" said Ichigo's father, blushing slightly at her sudden change of subject.

"M-Mama…" said Natsume, equally as huge anime-eyed and blushing.

"Eh?" said Ichigo, in the same state.

"In fact, come here!" said Kyouko, grabbing her daughter's hand and leading her to the living room. She barked at her husband, "Leave the suitcase there! Ichigo will go back to St Marie's once she remembers!"

"H-Hai…" said Ichigo's father not seeming to see the point in trying to argue with his stubborn wife.

"W-What are you doing?" said Ichigo as Kyouko let go of her hand and went to find a video.

"Showing you something!" said Kyouko, "Sit down!"

Ichigo sat down obediently.

"Mama," said Natsume, going to stand beside her, "You're looking for that video, aren't you?"

"Yeah," said Kyouko, "Help me find it, OK?"

"OK," said Natsume, rummaging through a pile of old videos. Finally she picked up one, "Found it!"

"Ah, really?" said Kyouko. She stood up and took the video, sliding it into the VCR. Then she stood to one side as the video began to play, "Watch, Ichigo. It might get your memories back."

As the video started, the faint rumbling of a motorbike sounded outside.

* * *

><p>"We're here!" said Johnny, grinning and looking at the house. It was rather nice actually, bright and well-kept. Through one of the front windows, he could see the back of who he assumed to be Ichigo's mother. As he leaned back for a better look through the window, he could see some blonde hair and what looked to be a video playing on the TV.<p>

"The blonde's Natsume, Amano's sister," said Kashino, as he pulled off his helmet and slung it on one of the handles on the motorbike.

"What are they watching?" said Johnny, trying to lean further back for a better view but failing.

"I don't know, does it matter?" said Kashino standing up. He stretched and dusted off his clothes. In his hurry to get to the train station he only had enough time to whip off his apron and was left standing there in his pyjamas.

"I feel ridiculous," said Kashino. His long sleeved blue button up shirt and matching cotton pants weren't really that bad and could probably pass as normal clothes but he still felt stupid standing in public in them. He could disguise the shirt if only he had a pair of jeans.

"Hey, you think I feel any better?" said Johnny. Standing in his white plain singlet with a bear face on the front and light blue track pants with identical bear faces on it, he did look pretty funny.

Kashino snickered and turned around, holding in his laughter, suddenly grateful his pyjamas were at least plain coloured.

"You didn't get dressed?" said Kashino, keeping in his laughter with great effort. He somehow felt happy, like this was Johnny's punishment for not having to wear the ridiculous pink bear costume during the trip to the Sweets Kingdom.

"When your Sweet Spirit came in saying it was an emergency, of course I couldn't dress!" yelled Johnny, a hint of red on his face. Kashino snickered even more.

"Don't you forget we're here," said Chocolat, appearing beside Kashino, "We can create clothes, remember?"

"Oh yeah!" said Johnny, relieved, "Maize, please?"

"You said please…" said Maize, eyes wide but smiling, "OK!"

Soon Kashino was normally dressed in light blue jeans and a red polo shirt. He had black sneakers on.

Johnny was dressed as well in blue jeans, a white t-shirt and blue denim short sleeved jacket. He wore black sneakers as well.

"Thanks you guys," said Kashino to the Sweet Spirits. Maize smiled back and waved over the Carry Card, making the cake appear in Kashino's hands, "It's OK. But if you don't get her memories back, I will personally burn you to a crisp."

Johnny and Kashino both shivered with the layer of menace in her voice. Chocolat floated next to her, holding her fork over her shoulder like a sword, "This fork is pretty sharp, just to let you know."

"Seriously. When did our Spirits become like this?" said Johnny, sweat-dropping.

"I don't know…" said Kashino, looking at the dark aura surrounding the two Spirits.

"Well anyway, come on, let's give the cake to Ichigo. It's still good right?" said Johnny.

Kashino opened it for a look. He had dropped it in shock at the station but thankfully the cake didn't seem to take much damage.

"It's fine," said Kashino, breathing a sigh of relief.

"OK," said Johnny, walking up the path to the front door of the Amano house, "Come on."

Kashino walked up, their Sweet Spirits floating beside them. Johnny raised a hand and knocked. After a few seconds, the door opened and Natsume stood there.

"Kashino-san!" said Natsume in recognition. She looked at Johnny and thought for a minute, "You must be Johnny!"

"Hey, baby!" said Johnny, grinning, "Ichigo here?"

Natsume stared at him, not used with his speech. She looked at Kashino questioningly. Kashino shrugged and mouthed 'American'.

"Oh, she's here!" said Natsume after a few seconds and realising she hadn't said anything. She stepped aside to let them through, "You'd better hurry, Mama can't keep her still for long."

"What?" said Kashino, walking into the living room and sweat-dropping at the sight.

"Let me go up to my room!" said Ichigo, glaring at her mother, "I don't want to see my friends, Mama!"

"Not only are you amnesiac, you're also anti-social?" cried Kyouko, having Ichigo in what looked like a headlock to prevent her from running away, "We're getting your memories back, young lady!"

"Amano," said Kashino. Ichigo glared at him coldly enough to rival the ice queen.

"Kashino-san!" said Kyouko, looking up and at the unfamiliar American, "Hello there! Can you help me please? She's trying to go up and lock herself in her room."

"Uh, sure," said Johnny, going over and holding Ichigo's wrists so she couldn't run away.

"I want to go up to my room," said Ichigo coldly to her mother and carefully keeping her voice volume in check.

"Well, you can't," said Kyouko, "I'm going up there and locking myself in your room so you can't get in. And you three," she looked at the three teenagers in the room, "sort things out. Come on," she led Natsume out of the room and called to her husband to come with her. Soon the click of a door was sounded and the house was fairly quiet except for the video still playing.

"We know the real reason why you ran away," said Kashino, "You didn't like seeing us unhappy. You knew you couldn't be the real Ichigo again and thought you should just leave. Of course you still don't like sweets. But that's the main reason, isn't it?"

Ichigo was quiet and looked down. Kashino knew their theory was right. He inclined his head to Johnny and he let her go. She didn't run, simply standing there.

"Well, you know, your real self always liked to eat sweets when she was sad," said Kashino giving her the box.

Ichigo looked at him expressionlessly but took the box and slowly opened the lid. Her eyes widened at the sight and her mouth curled up in a smile.

"It's beautiful."

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry I haven't updated for two weeks! :(<strong>

**But anyways, here's the chapter!**

**Did anyone still remember Kashino and Johnny were in their pyjamas? ;)**

**I just read over the last couple of chapters and realised I didn't say they changed out of them! XD**

**And I just made Kyouko put her daughter in a headlock because… well, it's funny.**

**Review!**


	19. Chance

Chapter Eighteen: Chance

The cake's size was revealed first. It was large and tall, with three layers, all of them the colour just between white and cream. The edges were iced with white icing in the perfect shapes of delicate little roses, definitely Hanabusa's work. In between each rose was a small strawberry piece, sliced expertly to represent a rose petal, which Ichigo recognised to be fraises de bois. Intricate patterns decorated the bottoms of each layer. However, what caught Ichigo's attention was at the top where a prominent, large white chocolate heart was placed. On either side of the heart, detailed, shining, transparent wings protruded out and crossed over once at the front. The edges of the wings shone with small sugar crystals, probably Miya's idea, Ichigo decided. On the outside alone, she could see where Hanabusa, Kashino, Miya and Rumi contributed with the roses, chocolate, eye-catching factor and fruit as well as the overall shape of the cake.

"You really overdid yourselves," remarked Ichigo, "I can't believe you even managed to carry this."

"Look at the heart," said Kashino.

Ichigo looked up and noticed kanji letters, written in white icing and embedded with sugar crystals, making it stand out.

_We're your friends, Ichigo. :D_

At the end was a random, clumsily drawn smiley face, probably added on at the last minute. By Johnny.

Ichigo noticed Kashino glare at Johnny as he noticed the addition to the message as well. Johnny smiled guiltily.

Ichigo stood staring at the heart with its inscribed letters. As she blinked, she wondered each time if the words would change into something else when she opened her eyes.

They didn't.

_We're your friends, Ichigo. :D_

"Have a taste," grinned Johnny, "Since we already put in all the effort, you can't refuse!"

"I refuse," said Ichigo. As she said that, her stomach growled loudly. Apparently, it hadn't ever experienced not getting sweets.

"Listen to your stomach," laughed Johnny, "Come on, you know you want it, Ichigo!"

"No," said Ichigo as her stomach growled louder. She glared at her stomach for a moment and then sighed, "If I do, will all of you leave me alone?"

"N—" began Kashino.

"OK," interrupted Johnny. He grinned, confident. Kashino glared at him before dragging him aside and hissing, "What the hell are you thinking?"

"What?" shrugged Johnny, "At least this way we have a chance at all. And besides, sometimes in life, you just have to gamble!"

"He does have a point, Kashino," said Chocolat.

Kashino slowly considered the options and finally said, "Fine."

All of them sat down at the coffee table. Despite her apparent hesitance to eat the cake, Ichigo's eyes showed otherwise as she got out a fork out of nowhere.

Kashino almost laughed at the random fork, _I guess some things really don't change._

"Itadakimasu!" said Ichigo and despite her monotonous tone, had a layer of excitement under it like she had always sounded before. Everyone smiled at that.

As Ichigo took out a piece of the cake, she looked at it. The inside had the thinnest layer of white chocolate and then regular cake. It actually looked pretty good, smooth and moist. Ichigo's eyes could pick up that much.

She looked at the expectant eyes of Johnny and Kashino and their Sweet Spirits and quickly put the cake in her mouth.

She chewed it thoughtfully, her face emotionless. The cake tasted good but incomplete. Everything was perfect but somehow it didn't taste right. Somehow, it was disappointing like the fire suddenly blew out before setting the firework off. Something was missing.

"Well?" said Johnny.

"It's… normal," said Ichigo, noticing she sounded slightly disappointed, "Wasn't it supposed to be great?"

"Something's missing, isn't it?" said Kashino, looking at her, "It's there. You just can't see it because you're different now."

Ichigo glared at him, "How does being different to you affect what I can taste?"

Kashino looked straight back, neither flinching nor backing down, "Search for it then, the missing ingredient."

Ichigo's glare was cold as ice. She didn't expect to eat the cake again but she didn't want to back down either or admit she was wrong. Concentrating hard, she ate another small piece, searching for what she missed before.

Instantly, flavour exploded in her mouth. The sweetness of the chocolate mixed with the savoury cake. The outside was slightly chewy too yet soft. Then Ichigo realised something else was there, something she'd overlooked the first time. It made the whole cake taste different, delicious.

Something else was happening to Ichigo too. She felt slightly funny like after spinning too much and her head felt numb as if she were having a brain freeze. Then sudden warmth overtook the numbness as Ichigo remembered what she felt when she ate the cake.

_You can feel it, _thought Ichigo, _everyone's feelings in this cake. The hard work everyone contributed, just for me. _

Ichigo looked at the cake, like looking at it properly for the first time. It seemed different now, shining in its own light.

_I see, _thought Ichigo, a genuine smile appearing on her face.

"Ichigo, are you OK?" asked Johnny. He looked at her concernedly as she sat silent, staring at the cake, her eyes blank. Kashino looked at the ground frowning. Had he been too harsh on her? Though he doubted that. Both Ichigos had strong wills and weren't easily disheartened.

"I see," said Ichigo. Kashino's head snapped up at her change in voice. It sounded softer now, lighter and happier.

"That's what you were trying to tell me. Even if a cake looks perfect, everything is done perfectly, it doesn't taste truly good if no feeling is put into it." She looked up, "Right?"

Kashino smiled slightly, "Yeah."

Then, after a pause, he added, "What else do you notice?"

Ichigo looked down at the cake and then her face lighted up, "This flavour… It's similar to 'Hikari' isn't it? I remember that… it was delicious. One of my favourite cakes. It made me happy. Just like I want to make others happy when they eat my sweets. I have to love them and then others will too."

"That's right," said Johnny nodding and anime tears streaming down his face, "You've remembered your love for sweets haven't you Ichigo?" Anime sparkles were around his face and eyes, grinning like a blind man seeing the sun for the first time.

"Yes," said Ichigo, smiling her signature smile, one filled with genuine happiness and cheerfulness, "I have. I love sweets! Thank you, Johnny, Kashino, Maize and Vanilla."

Johnny's face could be mistaken for a waterfall as he jumped at her, "ICHIGO!"

"ICHIGO! YOU'RE BACK TO NORMAL!" shouted Vanilla, hugging her first, making Johnny face plant on the ground.

"Vanilla," smiled Ichigo, "Yeah. Thanks to 'La Lumiere Du Ciel'. Did you all make it?"

"Yep!" said Vanilla, "Right, Chocolat?"

"Y-Yeah…" said Chocolat, staring at the opposite direction before turning around with wolf teeth, "Don't be mistaken though, Ichigo! I only did it because I had time to spare!"

"Sure~" said Vanilla with her smug face.

"Come back here!" yelled Chocolat, flying after Vanilla around the room, her hands ready to strangle someone.

"Johnny could you go tell her family it's all right for them to come out now?" said Kashino, stepping over the body of Johnny on the ground.

"Sure…" said Johnny, sounding rejected and morbidly depressed all of a sudden. He stood up and began walking towards the stairs. Ichigo, noticing Johnny's sadness, walked over and suddenly gave him a hug.

Kashino widened his eyes and his jaw would have dropped straight to the floor had he not pulled himself together at the last second. Even Chocolat and Vanilla stopped dead still in mid-air and in the same positions in shock. It was as if someone pressed pause on them, they stayed like that exact same position.

"Really, Johnny, thank you," said Ichigo, pulling away, smiling, "So don't look so sad, OK?"

Everyone turned to stone metaphorically for a minute while Ichigo still stood normally, smiling.

Then Johnny snapped out of it and grinned hugely again, the one that looked like it would break his face, blushing slightly, "Yeah!" Then he ran up the stairs and yelled something in English that no one could understand, "**Yahoo! Take that, you little narcissist! Ha ha ha!**"

Kashino felt somewhat agitated for a second even though he couldn't understand.

"Kashino, thank you too," said Ichigo, walking over to him, "Were you really worried about me?"

Kashino flinched and blushed, "W-Well yeah! Everyone w-was worried…"

"Um…" said Ichigo, suddenly nervous. Kashino looked at her curiously.

"I-I heard what you said in the hospital…"

Kashino suddenly turned to stone again, a deep scarlet travelling to his face when he changed back to normal, "H-HUH?"

"W-Well, you yelled it REALLY loud; of c-course I heard it!"

"DID MY PARENTS HEAR?" yelled Kashino, suddenly panicked. He could just see it now, bodyguards come to pick him up and put him under house arrest so he could never see Ichigo again and be forced into marriage with some other daughter of a rich company. MAYBE IT WAS MIYA! Kashino almost died at the thought of that. Miya was considerably nicer since the incident but he still didn't think of her that way.

"M-Maybe, I don't know!" cried Ichigo.

"Oh great…" said Kashino, having a new issue to worry about.

"But that's not the point!" said Ichigo, "The point is… did you mean it?"

"Well!" said Chocolat loudly, whispering to Vanilla and Maize, "Let's go."

"Yeah," they both whispered back nodding and then all three of them flew out of the room.

"Please take all the time you need," smiled Maize.

"Come on!" said Chocolat, grabbing her and yanking her out of the room.

"Chocolat, you—!" began Kashino. Then he remembered he still hadn't replied to Ichigo yet and shut himself up. _I'll get you later, Chocolat…_

Ichigo looked curiously at him, waiting. Under her penetrating gaze, Kashino suddenly felt very small and even afraid.

"I- I did…" said Kashino, looking at her and trying to hold her gaze, "I did mean it, Ichigo."

"Makoto," said Ichigo, her voice getting quieter but her genuine tone didn't waver, "I… love you too."

Kashino's first reaction was to run straight out of there. He had never been this nervous before, looking at her now. Then he realised her head was moving closer towards his. Kashino's eyes widened at this. Was she really—?

_She's not as innocent as I thought._

Then, before he even realised it himself, his head was moving towards hers as well.

As his lips touched hers, Kashino immediately almost flinched from the contact. He had never kissed a girl before, nor ever thought about it. But he could tell Ichigo was a beginner as well. She tasted like strawberries and her lips were soft.

As Kashino began getting less nervous, he smiled and closed his eyes, beginning to enjoy it.

Just then, the sound of footsteps appeared and Johnny's voice, "Hey, shorty, I got Ichigo's family out so are we going back to St Marie's— **what the hell**?" he said the last part in English.

Kashino pulled away too late, blushing as Ichigo did the same, jumping back.

"ICHIGO MICHIKO AMANO!" shouted Kyouko, her eyes wide and her hands covering Natsume's eyes, "Sweetie, don't look."

"I already saw," said Natsume.

"MY DEAR DAUGHTER!" shouted Ichigo's father, his hands clutching a handkerchief in his mouth, anime-style.

Even the Sweet Spirits were hovering above them, their jaws dropped halfway to the floor.

"I-It's not what it looks like!" said Ichigo.

"Nee-san, we all saw," said Natsume.

"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW YOU'RE GOOD ENOUGH FOR MY DAUGHTER?" shouted Ichigo's father.

"He's the best in St Marie's!" said Ichigo, "Makoto was moved up a year because of his skills!"

"Ah, oi…" said Kashino.

Suddenly, Kyouko's eyes were wide, "M-M-Makoto? H-H-H-His first name? Since when were you two _that _close?"

"W-Well, Mama, you were the one who said I might date one of the Sweet Princes!"

"DATE?" shouted Ichigo's father.

"I said you might marry one of them!" said Kyouko.

"HUH?" said Kashino, completely confused.

"**MARRIAGE**?" shouted Ichigo's father much louder.

"Oh really, don't shout!" said Kyouko to her husband, "Your daughter is dating the best chocolatier in St Marie's so you better be happy about it! And even better, he's good looking too—"

Kashino almost blushed at Ichigo's mother's bold statements. They had _really _talked about Ichigo marrying one of them? Natsume was staring at her mother with wide eyes. Johnny and the Sweet Spirits were still in the same position when they first saw the two; their jaws dropped halfway to the floor.

_Marriage, huh? _thought Kashino, turning and smiling slightly at Ichigo who still looked beautiful even when she was trying to calm down her parents.

_Well, we'll see what happens. But for now, I'm happy just the way we are._

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><p><strong>OMG, I haven't updated for almost three weeks. I'm so sorry, I had a few late assignments during the last part of term but now it's holidays! :D<strong>

**Though I still have to think up a good story over the holidays for an English assignment… -_-**

**But hope this chapter made up for it! Thank you to all the reviewers and please review so I can see your feedback~ :3**


	20. Epilogue  Five Years Later

Chapter Nineteen: Epilogue – Five Years Later.

**Lemon's POV**

"Oi, Kashino, are you finished making 'Hikari' yet?" yelled Johnny.

"Yeah!" shouted back Kashino-sempai, as he set the wings in place. Beside him, Ichigo-sempai finished a batch of Sourire de l'Ange. Catching her eye, Kashino smiled slightly as Ichigo smiled back. I watched with interest. Something had happened when Kashino-sempai went after Ichigo-sempai. I could sort of guess what, but didn't really believe it. I snickered when I thought about it.

They heard that. Ichigo-sempai turned around and looked at me, "Lemon-chan?"

"A bunch of customers are coming in from nowhere!" I cried to cover it up, afraid I'd been caught staring, leaning on the bench, "Running after them all is so hard… Ichigo-sempai, can we switch now?"

"Yeah, sure," said Ichigo-sempai, walking to a room to change into the waitress uniform.

Since they came back to St Marie's and re-enrolled Ichigo-sempai yesterday, the competition was still called off and everyone was ecstatic to see Ichigo-sempai the way she was. Vanilla actually bawled her eyes out on her.

But after the happiness, everyone realised that our shop was still unprepared and completely doomed if we were having crowds on Christmas today. But then we all figured out a solution that helped us all. With Henri-sensei's approval, we incorporated Beautiful Night Castle and La Reve Couleur making Beautiful Night of Rainbow Dreams. Andoh is still running his shop with some help from Hanabusa.

Our original building was actually renovated and made to fit the style of another good patissiere Henri-sensei found. I'm not actually sure what her name was but she was really pretty with her long brown hair and she is apparently a doctor too. Kashino was especially surprised to see her but he won't tell Johnny and me who she is! Though she's running the shop with sweets containing nuts now. She's pretty skilled and her shop is a success. Somehow she seems used to the busy business and had no trouble adapting to the hectic atmosphere.

"Three Sourire de l'Anges for table four and one chocolate mousse for table two," said Rumi coming in and putting the order on a tag, "Also, a fruit tart for table eight," she smiled at me.

"Hai!" I said and began preparing the tart.

_It's still hard adapting to working in an actual sweets shop like this. But we're having a lot of fun! We would never have it any other way._

* * *

><p><strong>Normal POV<strong>

_5 years later…_

A twenty one year old Ichigo walked down the path towards the place where Kashino had said to meet.

_He was acting strange today, _thought Ichigo as she saw the giant structure before her. The Notre Dame.

Since they opened a temporary shop in London, graduated from St Marie's Academy and made a permanent shop in Paris, Ichigo and Kashino were a close couple and worked together in their shop in Paris. They were professionals now, having trained in

Then when Ichigo received a text from Kashino after they closed saying to meet in front of the Notre Dame, she was slightly confused.

_This place brings back memories, _thought Ichigo, smiling. The place where a part of the Cake Grand Prix took place, where she and Kashino held hands…

Ichigo blushed slightly when she thought about that. No matter how much time had passed, she was still terrible at hiding her emotions and equally shy about her relationship too.

"You came," said a voice suddenly and Ichigo payed attention again. There was Kashino who'd barely changed in five years, standing in the exact same position he had when they held hands there.

"Yeah," said Ichigo, smiling, and looking out over the wide lake reflecting the lights of Paris and the stars, "This place brings back many memories, doesn't it?"

"A special place," agreed Kashino. Then he suddenly held out a large cake box, "Which is why I chose this place to give you this."

"Cake?" said Ichigo, beaming immediately. Over the past five years, her excitement at sweets hadn't changed at all.

"Yeah. A special cake," said Kashino, "It's a bit different but I hope you like it."

"Everything you make, I'll love," said Ichigo happily taking it and opening the lid, widening her eyes at the cake, "This is…"

"Do you remember this day five years ago?" said Kashino, "The day you regained your memories?"

"La Lumiere Du Ciel," said Ichigo, smiling at the nostalgic feeling the cake brought. Despite Kashino's claim it was different, it looked equally as beautiful. As her eyes travelled up, they finally settled on the large heart on the top layer. Five years ago, the words '_we're your friends, Ichigo :D_' were inscribed in it. Today, something different was written in it.

…

"So what does it say?" said Ichigo, looking at the thin blobs of icing. Even at twenty one, Kashino still couldn't write decently.

As Ichigo looked at Kashino, smiling apologetically, she realised he had gotten down on one knee, an open ring box in his hand holding a beautiful diamond ring.

"Amano Michiko Ichigo," said Kashino, "There's no one but you who I want to spend my life with. Will you marry me?"

"Oh… So that's what it says," said Ichigo, looking at the thin blobs again, trying to hide her blush at the question.

"O-Oi…" said Kashino.

"O-Of course it's a yes," said Ichigo, blushing at the ground, putting down the cake for the time being.

Kashino smiled and stood up, slipping the ring onto her finger, "Thank you."

Ichigo looked down at the ring, smiling at it fondly. Then she looked at her husband to be and smiled, kissing him on the cheek, "I love you, Makoto." Then she bent down and picked up the cake box with one hand, "Now let's go eat cake."

Kashino blushed and followed after her. He held her ring hand with his own where he was wearing his matching ring, "I don't know why, but I love you too, Ichigo. And it didn't say 'will you marry me?' on the cake."

"Huh?" said Ichigo, surprised, "Well, it wasn't as if I could tell… What did it say then?"

"Not telling," said Kashino, turning his head slightly, deliberately annoying her.

"Aw, come on! Is that any way to treat the girl you just proposed to?" cried Ichigo, though her face turned red at the word 'proposed'. As she continued interrogating him, Kashino smiled at what he'd actually written.

_Stay with me forever._

* * *

><p><strong>The End! <strong>

**No really, this story is finished now~ There is pretty much nothing left to add so… I actually thought of a few different endings like maybe their graduation but Kashino's a year above Ichigo now so he'd graduate first and that wouldn't work. But, yeah! Hope you liked it~**

**Thank you to all the reviewers who reviewed/favourited/followed/etc. this story! I appreciated all your support for 'Falling in Love with a Friend'! **

**Kashigo forever~ ^_^**


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